Just going on my brothers word here, but apparently the first hour is dire, after that it gets alot better.FatherJack wrote:Phantasy Star Universe (PC)
Hugely disappointing, boring combat system. Worst Controls Ever In A Game. The UI was just thrown together.
Mini Reviews
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Oblivion: Surprisingly linear. Eats my graphics card and dumps on my CPU. I have to use Oldblivion hack to make it run which kinda strips it back to whether it's fun to play or not. It isn't. Morrowind was better.
Dark Messiah. Might & Magic: HL2 with swords. Combat can be a bit hit and miss because it's HL2 with swords. Very linear gameplay. Not that impressed personally.
Gothic III: I think I'll be playing this for quite some time. Very nice and freeform. Think, "A very pretty Morrowind" and you are almost there. I'm sure there is a main quest here somewhere but the massive game world is kinda obscuring it, with it's distinct lack of loading screens and massive scope ofr adventure. This is not a bad thing though. Far from it. Supplies me with the total immersion into another world that I'm looking for.
Fable. The Lost Chapters: Fun console port to PC. Just fun to play. Let me say fun again as it is just that. A real no brainer, linear, humorous, fun time waster. Did I mention that it's fun?
Dark Messiah. Might & Magic: HL2 with swords. Combat can be a bit hit and miss because it's HL2 with swords. Very linear gameplay. Not that impressed personally.
Gothic III: I think I'll be playing this for quite some time. Very nice and freeform. Think, "A very pretty Morrowind" and you are almost there. I'm sure there is a main quest here somewhere but the massive game world is kinda obscuring it, with it's distinct lack of loading screens and massive scope ofr adventure. This is not a bad thing though. Far from it. Supplies me with the total immersion into another world that I'm looking for.
Fable. The Lost Chapters: Fun console port to PC. Just fun to play. Let me say fun again as it is just that. A real no brainer, linear, humorous, fun time waster. Did I mention that it's fun?
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Dr. kitteny berk
- Morbo
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Yummy. Tastes good too. Been playing the games, not just talking about 'em, if you know what I mean.Dr. kitteny berk wrote:
Blimeh. have some impressive lurking pie.
That and having taken delivery of a daughter 17 months ago, my spare time is limited to say the least, so I've been trying to make the most of it.
And I'd forgotten my password for this account too. The word, "buggerflaps" springs to mind on this last point, as I'm sure it would for you too if you were in a similar predicament.
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FatherJack
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FatherJack
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Tried some demos over Steam today, here are my thoughts, mostly after a very brief amount of playing, full games may differ from the demos, of course:
Just Cause
Non-remappable controls and so rather hard to move about. Rather throws you in at the deep end, your first task being to free fall, parachute and land on a moving car. Inevitably failing and giving chase on a motorbike reveals vehicle control to be too sensitive and the vertical camera controls are reversed. Did I mention the controls weren't remappable? I'm using a mouse you fucktards, Up means look Up. Shot the floor a lot, got lost and gave up.
Hitman: Blood Money
Controls remappable, but have to be changed from in-game rather than the main menu (you can, but they're ignored), and reset on starting a new game. Why the hell do they make it so difficult? Was okay until I had to "distract the guards". No amount of coin-tossing lured them inside, and upon wandering outside found I was probably the only hitman ever to not actually carry a gun. Guards saw me, and told me I was "dead" but didn't actually shoot me. Carried on with them following me, but not doing anything. Crept up behind gangster and killed him with garotte, got gun. All goes a bit slow-mo. Guards finally decided to start shooting, blew them both away. All goes a bit red. Oh, seems I'm dead. What?
Silverfall
Sort of Dungeon Siege-ish. Controls not only non-defianble, but can't check what they actually are. View-spin is middle-mouse, so that sucks as mine is a smooth-scrolly one which never registers. Three monsters pop out of nowhere, I click to attack. Oh, I have to click again, for each individual attack, that's rather tedious. I die. I lose all my equipment. Apparently it's in a gravestone, right where the remaining two monsters are standing waiting for me. Erm, no thanks.
Bloodrayne 2
Hooray, remappable controls. Reversible vertical camera, although what the fuck was it doing the wrong way up to start with is anybody's guess. Few too many single-purpose buttons, as you can attack in three ways, as well as "lock on" using another button. Rather enjoying chopping up bad guys, eating them and throwing them around.
Then, they go and ruin it. Stupid platform jumpy bit like the one out of the first level of Psychonauts where you have to spin on spikes sticking out the the wall to get to the top. After falling right down the bottom a few times, gave up - exactly like I did Psychonauts.
All four of these could have been a lot of fun, but let down by really stupid little things which they could have fixed easily, or not actually have even broken in the first damn place. What a waste.
Just Cause
Non-remappable controls and so rather hard to move about. Rather throws you in at the deep end, your first task being to free fall, parachute and land on a moving car. Inevitably failing and giving chase on a motorbike reveals vehicle control to be too sensitive and the vertical camera controls are reversed. Did I mention the controls weren't remappable? I'm using a mouse you fucktards, Up means look Up. Shot the floor a lot, got lost and gave up.
Hitman: Blood Money
Controls remappable, but have to be changed from in-game rather than the main menu (you can, but they're ignored), and reset on starting a new game. Why the hell do they make it so difficult? Was okay until I had to "distract the guards". No amount of coin-tossing lured them inside, and upon wandering outside found I was probably the only hitman ever to not actually carry a gun. Guards saw me, and told me I was "dead" but didn't actually shoot me. Carried on with them following me, but not doing anything. Crept up behind gangster and killed him with garotte, got gun. All goes a bit slow-mo. Guards finally decided to start shooting, blew them both away. All goes a bit red. Oh, seems I'm dead. What?
Silverfall
Sort of Dungeon Siege-ish. Controls not only non-defianble, but can't check what they actually are. View-spin is middle-mouse, so that sucks as mine is a smooth-scrolly one which never registers. Three monsters pop out of nowhere, I click to attack. Oh, I have to click again, for each individual attack, that's rather tedious. I die. I lose all my equipment. Apparently it's in a gravestone, right where the remaining two monsters are standing waiting for me. Erm, no thanks.
Bloodrayne 2
Hooray, remappable controls. Reversible vertical camera, although what the fuck was it doing the wrong way up to start with is anybody's guess. Few too many single-purpose buttons, as you can attack in three ways, as well as "lock on" using another button. Rather enjoying chopping up bad guys, eating them and throwing them around.
Then, they go and ruin it. Stupid platform jumpy bit like the one out of the first level of Psychonauts where you have to spin on spikes sticking out the the wall to get to the top. After falling right down the bottom a few times, gave up - exactly like I did Psychonauts.
All four of these could have been a lot of fun, but let down by really stupid little things which they could have fixed easily, or not actually have even broken in the first damn place. What a waste.
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deject
- Berk
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I found Blood Money's controls to just be way too clunky for my liking. It was too soft and floaty. It's hard to be stealthy when your guy is unresponsive.
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (PC/Xbox 360 will be soon)
They actually made a real C&C game, and it looks pretty nice too. Also,
KANE!!!!!!!!
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (PC/Xbox 360 will be soon)
They actually made a real C&C game, and it looks pretty nice too. Also,
KANE!!!!!!!!-
Joose
- Turret
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I found Blood Moneys controls to be no problem, although I believe I turned the mouse sensitivity up a bit.
Also, the first level (which is the one in the demo) is supposed to be a tutorial, hence people being a bit more reluctant to shoot you than normal. And the slow-mo thing means you have been killed: You die, everything goes slowmo for a few seconds where you can still shoot people and they die with one shot, then after 5 seconds or so, you fall over proper dead.
Also, the first level (which is the one in the demo) is supposed to be a tutorial, hence people being a bit more reluctant to shoot you than normal. And the slow-mo thing means you have been killed: You die, everything goes slowmo for a few seconds where you can still shoot people and they die with one shot, then after 5 seconds or so, you fall over proper dead.
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buzzmong
- Weighted Storage Cube
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System Shock 2 (PC)
Awesome game, good plot, good twists, fps/rpg hybrid. Scary atmosphere, well built. A must play.
Deus Ex (PC)
Similar to System Shock 2, more modern, fantastically fantastic game.
Oni (PC/PS2)
3rd person beat-em-up/shoot-em-up. Good fun, little bit frustrating at times, but good for a blast. Anime stylings set in the near future. I like it.
Zelda - A link to the Past (Snes)
Only one of the most awesome games evar. That's all I'm saying on the matter.
Alien Breed series (Amiga)
Top down shooter from 1992 onwards, very good game series, although the series gets harder as it progresses, the last of the top down ones are nigh impossible. The two 3D ones are also good games.
Awesome game, good plot, good twists, fps/rpg hybrid. Scary atmosphere, well built. A must play.
Deus Ex (PC)
Similar to System Shock 2, more modern, fantastically fantastic game.
Oni (PC/PS2)
3rd person beat-em-up/shoot-em-up. Good fun, little bit frustrating at times, but good for a blast. Anime stylings set in the near future. I like it.
Zelda - A link to the Past (Snes)
Only one of the most awesome games evar. That's all I'm saying on the matter.
Alien Breed series (Amiga)
Top down shooter from 1992 onwards, very good game series, although the series gets harder as it progresses, the last of the top down ones are nigh impossible. The two 3D ones are also good games.
Not quite, (this may only be true for sexboxing, but i doubt it) when in the slow mo thing, if you manage to pop a shitload of heads (pretty sure every weapon has a different amount of heads to be popped, to compensate for the rate of fire) before you die, then you get all rambo, shake it off and carry on.Joose wrote: And the slow-mo thing means you have been killed: You die, everything goes slowmo for a few seconds where you can still shoot people and they die with one shot, then after 5 seconds or so, you fall over proper dead.
Although at this point a paper cut will kill you and you get no slow-mo chance.
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Sheriff Fatman
- Optimus Prime
- Posts: 1132
- Joined: March 5th, 2006, 22:54
Lord of the Rings Online (PC)
Right, since we are experiencing our third 5 hour+ downtime of the last week, I'll pen a quick review.
I doubt I'll have to explain the story behind this so I'll get right to it. You start the game as Frodo plans to leave the Shire. The main plot line (your 'Epic' quest, which is constantly moving along as you level and complete the tasks) runs parallel to the story in the book.
The class and race options are a bit limited in my opinion: man, dwarf, elvses and hobbitses, with which you can play a hunter, burglar, champion, guardian, lore master, or minstrel. The classes are fairly straight-forward, although there is a 'Trait' system allows you a good scope for personalising the way they turn out by completing certain tasks as you go along.
It's a slow burner; at first I was slightly meh towards it. I have yet to really feel part of the whole LotR experience, though this might be explained by my never really being a huge fan of it. However, as you get into the story and start to see people and places you recognise, it draws you in. They have done a good job of taking a story which I would expect 95% of the people playing know very well (through the book or the films) and yet still keeping you looking forward to the next bit of the plot.
It has a few new features here and there, and if you played World of Warcfaft it will feel very familiar but overall it doesn't really do anything new. That said, I am really enjoying it. It is clear that a lot of work has gone into it and at max settings it looks fucking incredible (you can see for miles). Fan or not, I'd say it's worth a punt if you like MMONG's.
Right, since we are experiencing our third 5 hour+ downtime of the last week, I'll pen a quick review.
I doubt I'll have to explain the story behind this so I'll get right to it. You start the game as Frodo plans to leave the Shire. The main plot line (your 'Epic' quest, which is constantly moving along as you level and complete the tasks) runs parallel to the story in the book.
The class and race options are a bit limited in my opinion: man, dwarf, elvses and hobbitses, with which you can play a hunter, burglar, champion, guardian, lore master, or minstrel. The classes are fairly straight-forward, although there is a 'Trait' system allows you a good scope for personalising the way they turn out by completing certain tasks as you go along.
It's a slow burner; at first I was slightly meh towards it. I have yet to really feel part of the whole LotR experience, though this might be explained by my never really being a huge fan of it. However, as you get into the story and start to see people and places you recognise, it draws you in. They have done a good job of taking a story which I would expect 95% of the people playing know very well (through the book or the films) and yet still keeping you looking forward to the next bit of the plot.
It has a few new features here and there, and if you played World of Warcfaft it will feel very familiar but overall it doesn't really do anything new. That said, I am really enjoying it. It is clear that a lot of work has gone into it and at max settings it looks fucking incredible (you can see for miles). Fan or not, I'd say it's worth a punt if you like MMONG's.
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Roman Totale
- Robotic Bumlord
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Sheriff Fatman
- Optimus Prime
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Dr. kitteny berk
- Morbo
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Matrix: Path of Neo (PC)
Fighting a bunch of dudes and pulling off awesome The One moves is great, but it's hindered by the fact that it's a crappy port of a game that wasn't really that polished to begin with:
Even with my new PC(I overshoot the recommended sys reqs), the game still chokes a lot, specially if I'm fighting a number of opponents and I've already destroyed a large part of the environment) It seems stupid that the game is being dragged by its two major selling points: fighting multiple enemies at once and destructible environments.
The graphics are shitty. It's probably the only PC-ported game I know of that has graphics worse than its console counterparts. Even if I bump the resolution up to 1280X1024 the graphics still look as awful as it did in 800X600, the only difference is the animation is now less fluid.
Getting around the game is also difficult. Unless you've finished all the missions, you won't have the ability to skip FMVs at the start of the level, and most of them are at least 2 minutes in length.
Fighting a bunch of dudes and pulling off awesome The One moves is great, but it's hindered by the fact that it's a crappy port of a game that wasn't really that polished to begin with:
Even with my new PC(I overshoot the recommended sys reqs), the game still chokes a lot, specially if I'm fighting a number of opponents and I've already destroyed a large part of the environment) It seems stupid that the game is being dragged by its two major selling points: fighting multiple enemies at once and destructible environments.
The graphics are shitty. It's probably the only PC-ported game I know of that has graphics worse than its console counterparts. Even if I bump the resolution up to 1280X1024 the graphics still look as awful as it did in 800X600, the only difference is the animation is now less fluid.
Getting around the game is also difficult. Unless you've finished all the missions, you won't have the ability to skip FMVs at the start of the level, and most of them are at least 2 minutes in length.
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FatherJack
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More stuff I'm not likely to play much.
Madden NFL 07 (Wii)
As wonderfully incomprehensible to non-fans as the actual sport. Woefully inadequate tutorial for the neophyte. Disappointing amount of Wii-interaction, involving a little flick at the right time, rather than a throw. Played for a full twenty minutes before discovering I was actually "controlling" the other team to the one I thought I was, though my performance actually dropped after realising this.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (Wii)
Made the mistake of selecting medium skill level, which actually means "bastard hard". Ludicrously long tutorial to explain that you basically mash the buttons and wave the controller about like a spazzer until you luck out and pull off a combo. Seriously, I just couldn't do some of the moves in the tutorial. Please note, I don't have irreconcilable differences with this one, just need to revisit with a calmer head and lower skill level, but my hair's still blonde and standing on end right now.
Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
Very nice-looking RPG in the cell-shaded style of Dragon Quest (VIII). Combat, though is a nasty button-mashy affair that basically ruined the experience. In my view, a waste.
Panyga: Golf with style (Wii)
Same as the free PC game, but impossibly hard compared to playing against drunk/amateur players online. You need to get at least par against flawless computer opponents in the very first game to progress - no buying special magic golf sticks for real monies off the internets, here. Better title would be "Pangya: Golf without actually any style because to get any semblance of style you need to be better than you were ever able to be in over 43 hours of online play". That's not so catchy, though.
Valkyrie Profile 2 (PS2)
Eye-wateringly beautiful. Eye-watering for three reasons:
1. The PS2 can't really cope and pixels out all the while.
2. You can't walk properly around the lovely towns, only press left or right like you're on some kind of carousel of pretty backgroundness.
3. The combat is some weird hybrid of turn-based and action that the tutorial completely fails to explain comprehensibly.
In short, another Unlimited Saga, Square-Enix foist off all their rejected FF ideas onto a previously successful franchise and hope that twats like me buy it regardless. Job done, SE, job done. Another waste of lovely design.
FatherJack - buying shit so you don't have to.
Madden NFL 07 (Wii)
As wonderfully incomprehensible to non-fans as the actual sport. Woefully inadequate tutorial for the neophyte. Disappointing amount of Wii-interaction, involving a little flick at the right time, rather than a throw. Played for a full twenty minutes before discovering I was actually "controlling" the other team to the one I thought I was, though my performance actually dropped after realising this.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (Wii)
Made the mistake of selecting medium skill level, which actually means "bastard hard". Ludicrously long tutorial to explain that you basically mash the buttons and wave the controller about like a spazzer until you luck out and pull off a combo. Seriously, I just couldn't do some of the moves in the tutorial. Please note, I don't have irreconcilable differences with this one, just need to revisit with a calmer head and lower skill level, but my hair's still blonde and standing on end right now.
Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
Very nice-looking RPG in the cell-shaded style of Dragon Quest (VIII). Combat, though is a nasty button-mashy affair that basically ruined the experience. In my view, a waste.
Panyga: Golf with style (Wii)
Same as the free PC game, but impossibly hard compared to playing against drunk/amateur players online. You need to get at least par against flawless computer opponents in the very first game to progress - no buying special magic golf sticks for real monies off the internets, here. Better title would be "Pangya: Golf without actually any style because to get any semblance of style you need to be better than you were ever able to be in over 43 hours of online play". That's not so catchy, though.
Valkyrie Profile 2 (PS2)
Eye-wateringly beautiful. Eye-watering for three reasons:
1. The PS2 can't really cope and pixels out all the while.
2. You can't walk properly around the lovely towns, only press left or right like you're on some kind of carousel of pretty backgroundness.
3. The combat is some weird hybrid of turn-based and action that the tutorial completely fails to explain comprehensibly.
In short, another Unlimited Saga, Square-Enix foist off all their rejected FF ideas onto a previously successful franchise and hope that twats like me buy it regardless. Job done, SE, job done. Another waste of lovely design.
FatherJack - buying shit so you don't have to.
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Dr. kitteny berk
- Morbo
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FatherJack
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Dr. kitteny berk
- Morbo
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Ep1 was fine, but not on the same level as the rest of the orange box.
Personally, I'd put the orange box games at
Portal: 10/10
Perfect, everything I wanted and more, completely perfick.
TF2: 9.5/10
Fucking great, few little niggles but nothing awful.
Ep2: 9/10
Bloody brilliant, I felt a few parts overstayed their welcome a little, but hardly a game-killer
HL2: 9/10
Ep1: 8/10
Filled in the gap between HL2 and Ep2, but was kinda lacking in something.
And the orange box would get 10/10, Just because it contains 4 of the best games ever for £25.
Personally, I'd put the orange box games at
Portal: 10/10
Perfect, everything I wanted and more, completely perfick.
TF2: 9.5/10
Fucking great, few little niggles but nothing awful.
Ep2: 9/10
Bloody brilliant, I felt a few parts overstayed their welcome a little, but hardly a game-killer
HL2: 9/10
Ep1: 8/10
Filled in the gap between HL2 and Ep2, but was kinda lacking in something.
And the orange box would get 10/10, Just because it contains 4 of the best games ever for £25.