Recently completed video games

[Squid Division]

Just beat Sam and Max 301 that I got with the Telltale Everything Pack. It was legitimately awesome, and I'm excited for the next episodes/things Telltale does. They've certainly come a long way from the first season of Sam and Max.

[Joflar]

I didn't ever know Shadow of Chernobyl had multiple endings, the ending I got was:

I got to the wish granter and then some scary cinematics played, including one where time went forward almost to revealing what actually happened and then went backwards, and it ended with a black screen.

I guess that's the bad ending?

If you get one of the two "good" endings it explains a lot of backstory and makes the other five endings even more sinister. I know because I beat it yesterday for the second time!

I really love the lowish sci-fi setting where modern day technology is contrasted against all these inexplicable phenomena.

[JonCole]

Just finished Uncharted 2... I can see why it was labeled GOTY by so many pubs. It was the kind of game that made me alternately completely satisfied and begging for more... kind of a strange feeling that I only get with my favorite television shows between seasons.

[Sully907]

Yea uncharted 2 is indeed amazing. Believable characters, great shooting, even the stealth mechanic was well done. It's hard to even think of something to criticize even if I try.

[Thompson]

Yea uncharted 2 is indeed amazing. Believable characters, great shooting, even the stealth mechanic was well done. It's hard to even think of something to criticize even if I try.

Maybe that stealth section wasn't done well, I fucking abhore any game that has a 'You've been spotted, you instantly lose and go back to where you started from. Also, did we mention that some of the guards have flashlights and can see you from anywhere on the map whilst the guards without flashlights are thicker than a plank of wood?' mechanic.

Other than that though Uncharted 2 is an incredible game, the writing and acting is simply outstanding.

[Sully907]

Oh yea I don't mean the actual stealth level, that was a bit off I agree. I meant to say the stealth kill mechanic works really well.

[Thompson]

Oh yea I don't mean the actual stealth level, that was a bit off I agree. I meant to say the stealth kill mechanic works really well.

The only real problem I had was that one guard who was standing in front of a guard rail that was also on a level above a flowerbed so you have to sort half walk up, half animate yourself up onto the flowerbed to grab the guy without getting his attention.

I did have 2 good experiences with that level though.

The first one is more of a discovery than anything but I was going to jump the guy who is standing in front of the fountain and I accidentally jumped into the water and was like ok, that's cool. So I shuffled around, grabbed the guy over the side of the fountain and drowned him.

The other is just a crazy fight movie scenario, I took out the fountain guy and ran over the left dodging the flashlight guard's LOS and silently climbed the staircase. I dart across the small courtyard and snap a talking guard's neck, the guy he is talking to doesn't seem to mind. I immediately turn and sprint at full pace down a staircase and take advantage of game physics to launch myself off the staircase and take out the other guard with a flying kick to the face.

[Chris]

Completed The Ballad of Gay Tony and Puzzle Agent the other day. I put a few thoughts about Puzzle Agent over in its thread.

Gay Tony ended really well, and had some of the best interpersonal dialogue I've seen in any game, although there's also a lot of fairly standard Rockstar URBAN GRIT/EDGE going on as well. All in all it was a very satisfying experience, although I still find myself really dismayed how many missions boil down to "KILL A THOUSAND MILLION COPS" or "KILL A THOUSAND MILLION DRUG DEALERS." I just can't quite get over the insane level of disbelief-suspension required there when the actual characters and overarching plot points are so much more believable than most games.

[Thompson]

Gay Tony ended really well, and had some of the best interpersonal dialogue I've seen in any game, although there's also a lot of fairly standard Rockstar URBAN GRIT/EDGE going on as well. All in all it was a very satisfying experience, although I still find myself really dismayed how many missions boil down to "KILL A THOUSAND MILLION COPS" or "KILL A THOUSAND MILLION DRUG DEALERS." I just can't quite get over the insane level of disbelief-suspension required there when the actual characters and overarching plot points are so much more believable than most games.

Would you recommend Gay Tony?

I've finished GTA4 several times and i've never been able to stop myself from just wandering around the city taking subways and generally wasting time, anyway, i'm apprehensive about buying EFLC in case it ruins my memories or 4.

Steam had it on sale for a while and I totally missed it, maybe i'll get it for the PS3...

[Chris]

Would you recommend Gay Tony?

I've finished GTA4 several times and i've never been able to stop myself from just wandering around the city taking subways and generally wasting time, anyway, i'm apprehensive about buying EFLC in case it ruins my memories or 4.

Steam had it on sale for a while and I totally missed it, maybe i'll get it for the PS3...

I feel the writing in the episodes is a considerable step up over the writing in GTA4 proper. They all share the same writing team, Dan Houser and Rupert Humpries, so either they found something more to connect with in the episodes or they're simply improving their craft. Anyway, the characters and their relationships are just amazingly good. And of course it's set in the same city and there's new stuff to waste time with. So if you already enjoyed GTA4, I can't see the episodes doing anything but providing you with additional good memories.

[Thompson]

I feel the writing in the episodes is a considerable step up over the writing in GTA4 proper. They all share the same writing team, Dan Houser and Rupert Humpries, so either they found something more to connect with in the episodes or they're simply improving their craft. Anyway, the characters and their relationships are just amazingly good. And of course it's set in the same city and there's new stuff to waste time with. So if you already enjoyed GTA4, I can't see the episodes doing anything but providing you with additional good memories.

Added to my list.

Thanks!

[Garden Ninja]

I beat Red Dead Redemption this morning. I'll probably post more thoughts on it later, in that thread, but the short version is that it was very good.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Completed The Ballad of Gay Tony and Puzzle Agent the other day. I put a few thoughts about Puzzle Agent over in its thread.

Gay Tony ended really well, and had some of the best interpersonal dialogue I've seen in any game, although there's also a lot of fairly standard Rockstar URBAN GRIT/EDGE going on as well. All in all it was a very satisfying experience, although I still find myself really dismayed how many missions boil down to "KILL A THOUSAND MILLION COPS" or "KILL A THOUSAND MILLION DRUG DEALERS." I just can't quite get over the insane level of disbelief-suspension required there when the actual characters and overarching plot points are so much more believable than most games.

Lol. Very true. I think the problem was that we'd all played GTAIV so much by the time Ballad was released that even the hardest IV levels were now a cakewalk... So they upped everything - TO THE MAX! It seems they also took the opportunity to throw in as many insane stunts as they possibly could, seeing as it was their last trip through Liberty City, which I was totally onboard for: They've done the "realistic" (ahem) thing, now they could go a bit OTT for some fun.

I felt the entire thing was a perfect ending to a great experience, and the idea of replaying missions to improve your score was good, too.

I think I'd like to see Houser and company not be restrained by the "gritty urban" world they clearly know little about, and try something new. I guess it's a hard balance though, because wherever they set a game, you're still going to be controlling a mass-murdering psychopath (in missions, at least), and they're still going to have to try and ingratiate the player to that character. So there's always going to be a problem balancing realism with entertainment. Hmm.

Still waiting to check out Red Dead Redemption, though. I hope the characterisation is as strong as GTAIV's. Plus, I guess you can have a little more leeway in the "brutal" old West, and still think of yourself as a "good" guy even after shooting a bus load of people.

[Chris]

Lol. Very true. I think the problem was that we'd all played GTAIV so much by the time Ballad was released that even the hardest IV levels were now a cakewalk... So they upped everything - TO THE MAX! It seems they also took the opportunity to throw in as many insane stunts as they possibly could, seeing as it was their last trip through Liberty City, which I was totally onboard for: They've done the "realistic" (ahem) thing, now they could go a bit OTT for some fun.

I felt the entire thing was a perfect ending to a great experience, and the idea of replaying missions to improve your score was good, too.

I think I'd like to see Houser and company not be restrained by the "gritty urban" world they clearly know little about, and try something new. I guess it's a hard balance though, because wherever they set a game, you're still going to be controlling a mass-murdering psychopath (in missions, at least), and they're still going to have to try and ingratiate the player to that character. So there's always going to be a problem balancing realism with entertainment. Hmm.

Still waiting to check out Red Dead Redemption, though. I hope the characterisation is as strong as GTAIV's. Plus, I guess you can have a little more leeway in the "brutal" old West, and still think of yourself as a "good" guy even after shooting a bus load of people.

Red Dead Redemption's actual writing is MUCH weaker than IV and the episodes', in my opinion, but there's also much less dissonance between its theme and gameplay. I think it's probably a better game overall for that reason, but it's disappointing that the quality of the dialogue isn't stronger.

[Asembo]

Finished Zeno Clash yesterday and it was really good. I loved the game looks, especially those hand drawn skyboxes. They also made a good job making most of the characters look really disgusting or weird.

Melee combat felt really smooth, but I didn't really learn to block or dodge, for me it was always easier to just take a few steps back. I'm afraid that I'll get destroyed in survival missions, because I didn't bother to learn blocking.

Overall, it was really good. It was definetly a shorter game (Took me 3-4 hours to finish) and voice-acting was weak, but other than that it was really enjoyable.

[Squid Division]

Just beat Sam and Max 302. It was awesome and reminds me of the Journeyman game I beat a long long time ago. Though it probably reminds more people of Day of the Tentacle, which I never played.

My only complaint about these games is that the controls are a little clunky with just the mouse. Movement is awkward a lot of the time. Also why isn't the default in EVERY game run mode? I don't get it.

[elmuerte]

for some reason I really can't get myself to continue playing Telltale games. I still have most of Sam & Max and Tomi to go... but, for some reason I can't find the energy to sit through them (also, I have no idea what I need to do in S&M s1e3, it was too long ago).

[dpp]

Finished 2 short games in the weekend, the campaign in Risk Factions and the story mode in Shatter.

I was pleasantly surprised with Risk Factions. Great UI, the game looks good, funny "characters", cutscenes and the spirit of Risk is intact. The only problem was the AI, which wasn't very challenging... but maybe I'm above average since I've played countless hours of Risk and ConquerClub (webgame). Now I should try playing the multiplayer portion, when I get some time.

[Garden Ninja]

Finished 2 short games in the weekend, the campaign in Risk Factions and the story mode in Shatter.

I was pleasantly surprised with Risk Factions. Great UI, the game looks good, funny "characters", cutscenes and the spirit of Risk is intact. The only problem was the AI, which wasn't very challenging... but maybe I'm above average since I've played countless hours of Risk and ConquerClub (webgame). Now I should try playing the multiplayer portion, when I get some time.

I have a couple questions about Risk: Factions

• Does it have local multiplayer?
  
• How different are the rules from classic RISK?
  
• How long do matches last?
  

My wife and I have been looking for a new boardgame to play together (we're getting tired of Scrabble, and Monopoly and RISK both take too long to play), and I think she would play a digital version.

[Chris]

for some reason I really can't get myself to continue playing Telltale games. I still have most of Sam & Max and Tomi to go... but, for some reason I can't find the energy to sit through them (also, I have no idea what I need to do in S&M s1e3, it was too long ago).

Most of them don't really compel me to keep playing, to be honest. Sam & Max season 3 is the first one I've actually kept up with. I also got through the first four episodes of Tales of Monkey Island, but S&M3 is considerably better so far. Other than those two series, I'd never really gotten more than one or two episodes into a Telltale season.

[dpp]

I have a couple questions about Risk: Factions

• Does it have local multiplayer?
  
• How different are the rules from classic RISK?
  
• How long do matches last?
  

My wife and I have been looking for a new boardgame to play together (we're getting tired of Scrabble, and Monopoly and RISK both take too long to play), and I think she would play a digital version.

It has both classic and new rules... the new ones make games much shorter, you don't have to clean the map, just reach 3 objectives and you're done. I'm not sure about local, but it probably does have it.

I only played the campaign, it took me about 30 mins/match.

[elmuerte]

Most of them don't really compel me to keep playing, to be honest. Sam & Max season 3 is the first one I've actually kept up with. I also got through the first four episodes of Tales of Monkey Island, but S&M3 is considerably better so far. Other than those two series, I'd never really gotten more than one or two episodes into a Telltale season.

I guess I should simply skip ahead to season 3.

I did play all of the Wallace & Gromit episodes. But then again, I'm quite an W&G fan.

[Chris]

I guess I should simply skip ahead to season 3.

Definitely. There's no real reason to put it off until you play through the other ones, if you aren't actually ever going to finish the other ones.

[miffy495]

Finished Sam and Max 303 tonight, as I'd promised the coworker I mentioned earlier that she could watch the rest of the episode. Cool that she likes it, a bit frustrating that I got myself into this situation where I will only let myself play the newest episodes on slow nights when we're working together. Still, I really liked the game. Not as good as episode 2, which is still mind-blowing to look back on, but very good.

[Sombre]

Just finished Flower and Demon's Souls. More to come on Demon's Souls soon. When I've calmed down a bit...