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These are really great.

Guess they should have kept it as an April Fools' joke.

Fully agree. Though it makes me yearn for a new Stalker-like all the more. Stalker had those claustrophobic moments! (those creepy, poltergeist ridden research labs) but it also let you explore a huge, fascinating world at your own pace. I'm sure I'll enjoy Last Light if only for its atmosphere and strong direction. It sounds like more of Metro 2033, which is what I wanted anyway. (and with cleaned up stealth mechanics, which should mitigate some of the frustrations I had with 2033)

Holy hell that's good! Unsettling power fantasies? Sounds like video games.

Edge (one of the few reviewers I trust) gives it a solid "good." http://www.edge-online.com/review/metro-last-light-review/ It sounds like it has tons of character, like the first. It also sounds like the heavy scripting and linearity are going to be a drag. I think the Bioshock Infinite comparisons Edge makes will prove to be accurate. An interesting, well-realized world, marred by forced linearity and fps drudgery. I'm still looking forward to playing it, though my expectations have been tempered some.

It's rather convenient that the over the top details are huge tits, isn't it? The Jenn Frank article truly is excellent and eye-opening in equal measure. As is the Hosking piece referenced within. It's crazy that part of what makes the Joan Holloway character from Mad Men so strong IS the fact that she's such an anomaly in TV. It's her struggle with her own form and how she is perceived by men and women (and a complicit audience) alike and how she views herself in return that makes her such a strong and interesting character. If the witch in Dragon's Crown exhibits such nuanced and deep characterization, then I will stand corrected. But right now it looks like she's there as eye candy. And different body types aside, the fact that the breasts are just barely covered and flop around like mad beasts from the slightest provocation lead me to believe (like the kotaku writer) that this is coming from an immature place, rather than one calling for diversity in body types.

It was probably a timed exclusive.

Out of curiosity, DoomMonkey, why don't you feel Stalker has good survival mechanics? I quite enjoyed the series and feel very few games are their equal in terms of both mood and mechanics. Having to balance the need to eat with how much you can carry with how much radiation you're willing to be exposed to with whether you want to prioritize battle readiness versus environmental protection in your gear is a delicious blend of survival, first person action and post-apocalyptic thrill. Also in terms of pure survival DayZ stands out above every other experience I've had, but playing it, you but up against the game's half-finished state so often that it's ultimately a very frustrating experience to engage with. Really looking forward to seeing what they do with the standalone version.

Minecraft (the first few hours you play it, at least) has a great survival based urgency to it. Goes away rather quickly once you move on to building redstone elevators in your mammoth fort.

I don't necessarily agree with that. In FC2, sure you could sneak past checkpoints, but what "ends" were you shortcutting to? The weird plot that I had no interest at all in pursuing? I may have missed the point of FC2 but for me it was about the violent and often messy interaction between your character and his environment. I do agree that that's far more nuanced than the very gamey unlocking of bases that FC3 offers but I don't see it as a violence vs non-violence comparison. As for the environment, stuff like the ravines and some of the underwater stuff were not highlighted in my map. If you bought the treasure maps from the weapon vending machine, sure it'd pretty much show you everything but you can just not buy those maps and still have a good portion of things remain unmapped. The towers highlight bases and item crates... they don't reveal relics or anything that's not a base afaik.

Music to play Candy Box to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=diybDrSohHI

Stephen your thoughts have indeed previously been hashed out on the forums and in the podcasts (see: "Lacks Restraint" episode") but I enjoyed your very accurate and colorful nailing of the game nonetheless. The writing reeks of the inside of a failed creative writing major's mind. And despite the writer having constantly griped in interviews that people 'don't get' the meta/explicit narrative that unrestrained violence corrupts, that stuff seems absolutely slathered on during the missions (and conspicuously absent outside of them). You go from the silent hunter (at least the way I was playing it) to being a loud douchebag yelling at his siblings and loved ones to "steer straight!" the instant you hop into a vehicle for a canned turret sequence - even before enemies appear. I will echo that there are truly amazing experiences to be had in the game, such as what I previously posted. It's a beautiful island that's fairly fun to explore. From the windy loneliness of the mountaintops to the bays and waterways replete with buried treasure and sunken ruins full of sharks and manta rays; everything is stunningly realized albeit in a polished and superficial way. (skyrim's equal i think) I plan to barrel through whatever missions exist between me and the wingsuit and then I'm turning on enemy base respawning and allowing the game to serve as a violence sandbox similar to its predecessor.

The verticality of the game's landscape continues to surprise me. I was exploring around the crest of a mountain range and ran into some brush which happened to be obscuring the edge. I promptly tumbled off and fell hundreds and hundreds of feet into a hidden body of water deep within a ravine. I then scrambled up some scaffolding and a super tall ladder and stumbled upon an enemy camp buried into the side of the mountain. The sheer variety of the game's topography often reminds me of minecraft (the only other game in which you'll be running along and then tumble down a ravine suddenly)

Started playing this finally. Quickly succumbed to the left-sided vehicular perspective frustrations the idle thumbs guys mentioned. never not hilarious.

Yeah, your argument: buy this game because it has zombies, could use some refinement.

I would have been a lot more interested if PCF had made a sequel to the surprisingly entertaining Bulletstorm. It's kind of sad really, instead of getting to work on their own IP they're tasked to shovel out more of a franchise that there clearly isn't much market demand left for (and why should there be, what really is being added here?). I certainly couldn't give a shit about the "personal stories" of Cole and Baird. I had just about enough of it in 3, so much so that I never finished the game.

I'm in!

I think it's certainly meant to deal in grays rather than blacks and whites. No state is judged objectively and your own is only praised with hollow propaganda. That's what makes the mechanics so very interesting to me. There are increases in security to address suicide bombings, but the suicide bombings continue anyway. You can attempt to act morally, to help people that might be negatively effected by the blundering and often unnecessarily harsh bureaucracy erected around you. But helping them puts a strain on your workload and has the potential to harm your own family. And you don't know if some of these people are simply lying. It's the seed of doubt that one human inevitably plants in the other that supports and bolsters most cases of authoritarian rule. You may be following orders you don't like, but there are mechanics at play (your own starvation, your own fears of external violence) that make these orders easier to follow than you'd expect.

Holy shit, golf clap for the kickstarter little miss sunshine bit. I kind of even feel inspired even though it's total bullshit... feels like kickstarter! Also agree with Gormongous on Monaco. Being seen is far less game-ending than in most other stealth games - guard AI is very forgiving once you recognize its patterns. The difficulty curve for Monaco is fairly steep though, which is what accounts for much of the early game frustrations. I went back and played the first few levels with a friend and kind of realized that while Monaco follows many of the tropes of stealth games, it's more about the franticness of the near miss and the chase and the panicked shotgun blast as you turn a corner into a guard's flashlight than it is about Splintercelling around a map, totally unseen. Which is also why it's such an incredibly fun multiplayer game; every level is an opportunity for multiple ways to pull a leroy jenkins and then just barely manage to get out alive as darts and bullets fly over your retreating heads as silly piano music plays.

Thanks!

More questions: Is there a way to search for cheapest economy/industry/science upgrade like there was in NP1? Or is it all about quick upgrade?

As long as I get to ride a BMX off a cliff, I'll be happy.

I'm playing a game with some friends and I now completely understand what Sean was talking about when he brought up "loathing." Got burned while trying to foster an alliance and now I trust NO ONE! I'm also embarrassingly obsessed with the game. Going so far as to commandeer my girlfriend's laptop in between episodes of Mad Men to check fleet movements. Fuck.

Yeah, was just going to mention the Hitman: Blood Money Mardi Gras mission. A great example of a parade being incorporated into game mechanics. The crowd gives you cover but also obscures your targets and the mark you're assigned to protect is on a float and set to be assassinated. One of Blood Money's more memorable missions.

They should totally get the Oculus VR working with this, btw. EVE devs are on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7ACP1IUQHSg