The Gaming Thread

[Andara Bledin]

Mmm... Diablo II is so much fun.

We actually run a D2 tourney at the thrice-yearly gaming convention. You have one hour to amass as much gold as possible. I usually win that one. Wasn't in top form last time, though, and came in second.

^-.-^

[Broomjockey]

Picked up assassin's creed for PC, and Brawl for Wii yesterday.

Assassin's Creed: Holy SNAP! That game looks amazing. Plays well too. Really enjoying it.

Brawl: Well, haven't had the opportunity to play much. The subspace emissary portion's kinda interesting. Game looks okay too. Reserving judgement until I get some more time on it.

[Geek King]

I just bought the Diablo 2 battlechest. I used to play it online with a guy I had a massive crush on, but didn't have the courage to hit on. Because what says "I love you" better than having my necromancer destroy your sorceress?

I've spent so much time on Diablo II...I had a Bowazon up into the 70s, and I only ever played solo. So many hours gone.

Seriously, get the 1.10 patch before you play. They added a lot of content in that one, and really pumped the game back up.

You could also enjoy Titan Quest, which is basically Diablo II with a more greek/egyptian bent. I've played that one quite a bit as well.


On a side note, I decided to get back into a game I hadn't played in awhile this weekend: Oblivion. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it, especially after sniping a goblin with my bow, only to find the arrow sticking directly out of his bum when I got closer to loot the corpse. Roommate is still having fits of giggles over it.

[unclejampuff]

I am counting down the hours until I can pick up my copy of Persona 3: FES. Oh God. 6 hours, 48 minutes.........

I'm also playing the DS Crystal Chronicals with my boyfriend. This one is actually as much fun solo as multiplayer.

My job requires me to test 360s, so I'm playing a bit of Mass Effect.

I just bought the Diablo 2 battlechest. I used to play it online with a guy I had a massive crush on, but didn't have the courage to hit on. Because what says "I love you" better than having my necromancer destroy your sorceress?

[lordlundar]

Well, I went on a bargain gaming binge again and picked up some new (and used) PS2 games.

Phantasy Star Universe - Been meaning to pick this one up for a while, but the incentive just wasn't there. Still holds strong with the sci-fi RPG concept, though nothing too fancy. And like PSO, it has an offline and online MMO mode, though I'll probably avoid the online myself.

Ratchet and Clank: Size matters - A PS2 port of the PSP version and it shows. The controls are nowhere near as tight as other versions, though the mix and match suits are fun. Nothing really special about the weapons though.

Sega Genesis Collection - Another one I've been debating, and pretty solid. They are all pretty much direct ports from some of the Genesis best, though that can be good or bad. (altered Beast for example, ugh!) Nothing fancy, but still fun for those of you who miss the 16-bit era.

Star Wars Jedi Starfighter - I got this due to liking the retrospective on Gametrailers, and it's an amusing little game. Hard as heck though, as just trying to finish the mission had me frantic more than once, let alone getting the medals. I do like how they put force powers in the game and didn't label them as dark side or light side.

Arcana Heart - The premise is Street Fighter with magical girls instead. However, if you are looking to buy this for eye candy, look somewhere else. There's only one playable who qualifies. For a fighter though, it's fun and very fast paced. The cancel system in this game is interesting as well, as you can cancel a multi hit special into another attack or another multihitter, leading to some really massive combos really high up. (the screen is about half again as high as the MvC series and I still go off screen with some combos). This cancel system also works for recovery and allows you to home in on your opponent to keep the pressure on. As well, you can pick your character and arcana, which is your mystic powers (think fireballs), making for some really customized characters. A really solid 2D fighter with a couple interesting twists. And if you're a person who must get everything imported by Atlus, then you already have this on your list.

[gunsage]

Wow...nice. Anyway, I popped back on here to remind you guys that before the end of this week: Persona 3 FES. Freakin' awesome.

[Andara Bledin]

I'm not a big FPS gamer.

Although I rather liked Heretic & Hexen.

And, of course, Descent was wicked. Although I'm not sure I could play it these days. Doing a forward flip in a small car kind of ruins you for some things.

^-.-^

[gunsage]

Oh, I wasn't saying you were bashing shooters in general, I'm just surprised you didn't really enjoy Half-Life. Ah well. You ought to check some of the speedruns for various FPSs, though. That stuff's awesome. I'm also a big fan of Contra, but typically only the first, third, and Shattered Soldier. Oh yes, and virtually any Treasure game.

[RayvenQ]

Then again, I do play on a COD4 Hardcore server that has the heli set to no ammo and 1hp so not that big of a deal to me.

[Geek King]

It's actually quite good, I'm hooked and I'm normally not a FPS player, though it does have its flaws such as the fact that bullets going through most things makes taking cover almost worthles sometimes and don't even get me started on Helo Strikes There's naff all you can do to save yourself from them.

I like the blow through in the game. Makes it more realistic (and fun!) when you have to pay attention to what you hide behind. Also alows me to snipe people who let their gun barrels stick out of windows.

Helis can be avoided by keeping a wall between you and the chopper. It won't shoot unless it can see some part of you. You can move when it does, as the choppers usually only shoot from a hover. I do it all the time, and only get hit when I get caught out in the open. Some maps are harder than others to get cover, of course.

Gunsage: I wasn't hitting all shooters, just FPSs. And yeah, Half Life bored me for some reason. I played doom back in the day, but only because there wasn't that much else to compare to. I recognize it for inovation, but the series kinda stagnated. I did forget Blood. That game was too funny! I guess Call Of Duty II was okay too, but just got silly at times with the enemies respawning until you cleared the building they were in.

For regular/Third person shooters, I like Ratchet and Clank, and the main Jax & Daxter series. Max Payne was great too, even with the flaws.

[RayvenQ]

I'm upset at the gaming community right now for continuing to overhype Call of Duty 4. That's all I ever hear about. Please, pleaaase give me a break from GO TO WAR MUST KILL TERRORISTS games..no wonder I abandoned first person shooters and got sucked into another RPG.

It's actually quite good, I'm hooked and I'm normally not a FPS player, though it does have its flaws such as the fact that bullets going through most things makes taking cover almost worthles sometimes and don't even get me started on Helo Strikes There's naff all you can do to save yourself from them.

I should mention I'm playing on the 360, so PC may be different if hacks and aimbots have been cropping up. One more reason I've stopped playing FPSs on PCs

There aren't really many if any hacks and aimbots around for it, at least, not ones that Punkbuster doesn't catch so playing on a PB enabled server means that you're 99% likely to not encounter aimbotters or other cheaters.

[gunsage]

I agree with you on the Halo part and could list reasons I actually didn't like them. But Doom and Half-Life? Ah man...I loved those. Sure, Doom 1/2 and Wolfenstein 3D followed the very simple format of "make your way through an apparent maze of death while collecting keys to unlock various doors until you beat the level" wash rinse repeat, but it worked because the level design was often pretty good and enemies were positioned at good locations.

In the same way, Blood was also fun like that...at least the first episode was, anyway. The computer I had at the time actually couldn't handle the second episode for some reason. While we're on the topic, here's the other shooters I highly recommend...

- Max Payne 1/2
- Shadow Warrior
- Deus Ex
- Gunstar Heroes
- Pretty much any Metal Slug game
- House of the Dead 1/2...3 and 4 are just okay IMO, though it is fun to see peoples' reactions when I use both 1P and 2P on the 4th, but ESPECIALLY on the 3rd. If you've seen the third, you already know why.

[Geek King]

I'm upset at the gaming community right now for continuing to overhype Call of Duty 4. That's all I ever hear about. Please, pleaaase give me a break from GO TO WAR MUST KILL TERRORISTS games..no wonder I abandoned first person shooters and got sucked into another RPG.

Okay, I'm playing alot of COD4 online now. I don't know why, but it just clicks with me. I normally don't like FPSs, and can count on one hand the series I do like. It just seems like this one is really well balanced in multiplayer, with an almost rock-paper-scissors thing going on with sniping, run-and-gun play, and stealth. The maps seem to work well without requiring too much play to learn. The perks system works well for customizing characters, and very few are totally worthless in all situations.

I should mention I'm playing on the 360, so PC may be different if hacks and aimbots have been cropping up. One more reason I've stopped playing FPSs on PCs.

The single player is a little weak, but that first time through had some great, "Holy S#&%! Did they just do that?" moments. I don't really care about the storyline on a FPS. Its kind of like going to a strip club and complaining about the music. If I want story, I play RPGs.

Others FPS I liked (for those who care):

Decent I/II --full 3-D movement makes for sneaky gameplay
Battlefield 2142 --Great game until the cheaters and whiners started cropping up.
Thief I/II/III --Not traditional FPS fodder and a great story, II was the best IMHO.
Portal -- Thinking and Dark Humor? So much win.
Duke Nukem 3-D --Weapons and wierd levels allowed for stategic play. You havn't lived until you rig an elevator to blow when the door opens. Pissed off a lot of friends in this one.

Yes, I played Doom, Half-Life and Halo. Bored me to tears after little bit. The games I listed I still play, or would be willing to play even today.

[gunsage]

I have a PSP and yeah, those are some good titles, but you may want to consider emulation before you upgrade the firmware. There are still a lot of excellent older titles for the PSP you may want to check out first. Just a thought. Also, I'm with you on the FPS deal...I don't find that many that I like anymore. This should give you an idea of what I mean...

ZOMG HALO!!!11 Yeah, okay, whatever. I didn't enjoy the original Halo all that much because you're always...walking...walking...walking...walking...O H HEY SOME ENEMIES!...walking...walking...walking. Sure, there's a lot of walking in, say, RPGs...but not FPSs. Not normally, anyway. I haven't tried any of the Call of Duty games, Medal of Honor, or whatever, but I have wanted to check them out...just to see if they're really worth it.

And yeah, Decker is great. Uplink is fun, too, but it's pretty easy to get caught without trying. Sure, it's easy to die in Decker, too, but in Uplink, you can be moments away from dying and not even know it. It's a situation where you almost don't want to save for fear of being stuck. That doesn't happen too much in Decker. Also, Nethack's kinda fun, too, but it takes some getting used to.

[marty]

RichS - God of War, FF:Crisis Core, Patapon are some newer ones.