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So I'm postponing my giant Morrowind play-through in favor of Hellgate London. (Don't really know where else to post this, don't want to make a new thread.)

Yeah, Hellgate London. I said it. Here's the thing. I'm a crazy person. I enjoy Hellgate. I really, really do. It's an enjoyable game, for me. I played through it when the multiplayer was working, and even ran the largest/richest/"best" guild in the NA server for a while.

So yeah, I enjoy the game enough to play through it in SP. I, as previously stated, is crazeh.

There's a sort of ulterior motive to this. Since I imagine most people here either didn't play, or didn't get very far, there's a specific portion of the game that's absolutely brilliant. Again, maybe I'm crazy and have a poor sense of humor for it, but I loved it. Techsmith 314 and the doctor whose name I can't quite place have some of the best NPC writing/interaction I've ever seen. It's astoundingly, jaw-droppingly hilarious stuff.

So because I feel bad about forgetting the specifics of it, I'm going to go back in, document it, and preserve it. While playing all the way through the game.

Am I crazy? Probably. Am I going to enjoy it? Already am.

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My worst GotY so far.

I hope I can sell it for 5€ somewhere, I will never get 10€ back for this in some fleamarket / internet auction site.

Haha, I can't believe you even played that to the finish. Cabela's is the Wal-Mart of hunting stores. I always imagined Cabela games were like new generation of the Deer Hunter budget titles for PCs in the late 90s that littered stores along with AOL CDs.

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It really was a bad game, the ultimate bad game I guess. I just wanted to get rid off it so I just had to swim through the shit that is the game and try to grind through it.

I think I would get more satisfaction of destroying the gamedisc in some EXTREME way, than to try to find a buyer for this crap. If I keep this from going to resale, I will save somebody from having to experience this horrible pile of steaming crap.

Activision sure has some great games in their catalogue. :tdown:

Edited by Kolzig

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So I suffered a psychotic break recently, and had the Star Wars Collection on Steam, in my cart. It was on sale. 50 dollars, however, is still 35 dollars of shit. No long-term effects were observed, as I removed it from the cart and simply purchased Jedi Academy.

This game confounded me when it came out, mainly because I was rubbish at video games back then. (Not that I'm any good now, mind you.) The rancor levels, the platforming (still suck at platforming), the godsdamned dark jedi. So I played through the first tier of missions in SP, dueled a friend for a while, got my monies worth.

Age of Conan is installing, I have nothing to do for 3 hours, might as well finish off JA. It remains frustrating (albeit much easier now) and oddly hilarious. The combat still works well, it's still a mostly polished game (though some of the textures wig out very badly for me) and I enjoyed it.

Two things.

There is a level in the second mission tier, where-in you are told to meet a contact to get information about The Bad Sith Folk. He is sniped and is inconsequential to the story. What is consequential, is the fact that you are given,

1. A speederbike

and

2. A lightsaber which may be used on the speederbike.

If you are not grinning like a madman currently, you are either,

A. A vegetable (In which case you're actually a nurse who peruses these forums on lunch break.)

or

B. Stupid (No offense.)

Also. There are a couple blokes on foot when you start the larger section of the level, who say something when you jump on their heads with a speederbike. In a horrible, thick Cockney accent. My brain translated it as

"The wizard?"

To be perfectly fair, given that this level often produces screenshots like the one following this sentence. . .

TheWizard.jpg

It's fair to say that my character is indeed, a magical, magical man.

(The following post was formulated during the 20 minutes it took me to get through that level. I laughed too much and ran into walls a couple times. It might therefore be batshit insane.)

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The most recent game I can remember completing was Metroid: Other M. The amount of melodrama in that game was staggering. While the gameplay was decent, the story had me wanting to tear my face off at times.

When I was done with the whole thing I felt there was so much potential there, that they managed to waste. If just minor tweaks had been made, I would have liked it so much more.

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Played through Singularity. Man that game was a big waste of time. I really have to start using my money more wisely.

It wasn't long game, but it sure was boring. Felt like a generic fps game in every possible way. The story was generic, all the functions were generic and they didn't even use the TMD in ways that would be actually fun. Everything was so scripted and set in a way that the player couldn't have any freedom. Only certain items could be broken/repaired and most of the environment had no effect with the TMD. Just static background that was just there working as blocking the way of moving in the levels.

Also not really a fan of the console style gun handling, you can only have two guns, plus a special gun as the third gun that drops every time you try to change weapon. Then if you want to change guns you always have to drop one or then rearrange your "inventory" at a gun closet that were littered everywhere on random, that also felt weird why the gun closets were basically everywhere. There was some cheap explanation in the plot for this but I don't buy that.

It felt like I'm playing a game. A REALLY BAD GAME.

Just read today morning that Raven has been hit by the bad success of their game and maybe around 40 people have been let go by Activision, because of "organisational restructuring". Raven used to have three teams working and now only one team. There's not much left anymore of the legendary Heretic/Hexen developer.

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I just beat Red Dead Redemption.... I don't know why I didn't see the ending coming... :blink:

Yes, but did you get the real ending, or just the ending?

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Yes, but did you get the real ending, or just the ending?

So... either I screwed up? Or there is a final mission after the end of the game? :erm:

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John Marston died, and now I'm playing as his son, Jack? Do I have a final revenge mission or what?

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John Marston died, and now I'm playing as his son, Jack? Do I have a final revenge mission or what?

You're not done yet. Go wander around Blackwater.

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Just finished Medal of Honor.

Suitably badass, felt somewhat formulaic but still had some genuinely cool stuff. The realism struck me (Discount being shot and blown up repeatedly during gameplay) especially during the attack chopper mission, gameplay video below.

dvB0sjG6ECw

There is, of course, a lot of ridiculous stuff in this game and the phrase 'Danger Close' is used again and again and again and again and again, there is also a huge amount of military jargon like 'Delta Hotel' (Direct Hit) and 'CAS' (Close-air-support) which only serves to confuse you until you figure out what they're talking about. How should I know what NODS or AQ stand for? (NODS i'm still not sure on, it's night vision but i'm not sure on the acronym, AQ stands for Al Qeida)

Apart from that the story was good enough to hold it all together and the guns felt pretty good, I did notice some friendly AI and scripting issues but overall I give it a thumbs up. :tup:

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Jesus, why do I instinctually just click on the sensor boxes? I just spoiled RDR for myself.

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I just completed a Legendary Solo run of Halo Reach... it was actually surprisingly easy, to be honest. After initially beating it on Heroic and playing a ton of multiplayer, I had a good feel for each of the levels and the pacing of each stage. With that, Legendary was only truly more difficult in that it required me to be a bit more cautious and stick strictly to having one of my weapons be a precision weapon of some kind (pistol, DMR, needle rifle).

For anyone looking to attempt it anytime soon, some random yet useful tips -

  • Don't worry about running past enemies - if your only objective is forward progress, fighting isn't always necessary
  • Alternatively, don't worry about sitting back and baiting enemies to come to you - the problem with Legendary is getting overwhelmed by multiple attackers
  • Fully explore each zone after any firefight - the developers seem to be fairly sympathetic to people looking to explore, little weapons caches are all over the place
  • The needle rifle is fantastic for taking down Brutes - three hits (after a shield is down for higher level brutes) is an instant kill
  • Noob combo is great for Zealot-class Elites - even on Legendary, a direct hit from a charged plasma pistol should drop any elite's shields, leaving them vulnerable to a DMR headshot
  • Don't hesitate to use power weapons (rocket launcher, plasma launcher, grenade launcher, sniper) - often times, you can backtrack to pick up that secondary if necessary
  • Almost every level where a vehicle is offered to you allows you to proceed without the vehicle - this might be useful for levels where there are multiple enemy vehicles bearing down on you (headshots can take out Grunts driving Ghosts, for instance)

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I just completed a Legendary Solo run of Halo Reach... it was actually surprisingly easy, to be honest. After initially beating it on Heroic and playing a ton of multiplayer, I had a good feel for each of the levels and the pacing of each stage. With that, Legendary was only truly more difficult in that it required me to be a bit more cautious and stick strictly to having one of my weapons be a precision weapon of some kind (pistol, DMR, needle rifle).

For anyone looking to attempt it anytime soon, some random yet useful tips -

  • Don't worry about running past enemies - if your only objective is forward progress, fighting isn't always necessary
  • Alternatively, don't worry about sitting back and baiting enemies to come to you - the problem with Legendary is getting overwhelmed by multiple attackers
  • Fully explore each zone after any firefight - the developers seem to be fairly sympathetic to people looking to explore, little weapons caches are all over the place
  • The needle rifle is fantastic for taking down Brutes - three hits (after a shield is down for higher level brutes) is an instant kill
  • Noob combo is great for Zealot-class Elites - even on Legendary, a direct hit from a charged plasma pistol should drop any elite's shields, leaving them vulnerable to a DMR headshot
  • Don't hesitate to use power weapons (rocket launcher, plasma launcher, grenade launcher, sniper) - often times, you can backtrack to pick up that secondary if necessary
  • Almost every level where a vehicle is offered to you allows you to proceed without the vehicle - this might be useful for levels where there are multiple enemy vehicles bearing down on you (headshots can take out Grunts driving Ghosts, for instance)

I have been really tempted to go through on Legendary since I beat the game, though my Halo: Reach multiplaying has lessened a bit. It's weird, I've heard from a few sources that Legendary isn't a massive jump on Heroic. At the same time, well done!

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I just beat Fairytale Fights... it's not the worst 360 game out there, but it gets pretty boring...

Brawlers should be SHORT! This game has way too many levels that are way too long for it's own good...

The final two levels are kind interesting... conceptually at least.. :hmph:

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Just finished Double Fine's Costume Quest. The game, gameplay wise, is like a kids version of Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. It's set in three areas where you more or less do the same thing, with a few variations for the story quests. The fighting mechanic is quite simple in it's form, but can be quite tricky at times. Quick reaction is vital, and failing to defend 3 times will probably result in defeat. But losing a battle has no consequences. The writing isn't really on the level of what you'd expect from Double Fine. But I guess it's partially due to being a kids game.

Anyway, I'm changing my initial rating of a :tmeh: to a :tup:. It's a fun game, not great, but better than most of the games I gave a :tmeh:, and considering it's aimed at kids (and the low pricetag).

Things that would have been nice:

- variation in side quests

- some text next to the collectible cards

Btw, maybe I missed this completely. But what was the 3rd button during the fights for? (the circle button on PS3).

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Btw, maybe I missed this completely. But what was the 3rd button during the fights for? (the circle button on PS3).

Some of the badges give you extra combat abilities - these map to the third button.

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Oh. Didn't mess around much with battle stamps. Used the "increase AP", "counterattack on defend", and "increase critical hit damage" stamps for most of the time.

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I too finished Costume Quest last night. First Platinum trophy I ever got (that's every achievement, in 360 terms) and I really enjoyed it. Definitely easy, but sharply written and a lot of fun. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Also this past week I've finished Splinter Cell Conviction and Dragon Quest IV for DS. Conviction got much better once I stopped trying to play it like Splinter Cell, but that just says to me that they made the wrong game. It was certainly not bad, but it wasn't anything at all how I'd like the series to be going. Oh well. It may be my last foray into the games. Also, I loved how during the final section of the game

the big baddie for the entire game tells you how he's going to pay you back for the airfield.

I got a good thumbs-related chuckle out of that one.

Dragon Quest IV is really really good, despite it having taken me over a year to play the 30 hours from beginning to end. I enjoyed pretty much all the time I spent with it up to the last two hours, which were just spent grinding in anticipation of the final boss. That's a real bummer, especially as up to that point I'd been really impressed with how grind-free the game had been. The localization is brilliant and the gameplay is rock-solid old school RPG. I realized as the credits were rolling that it was the very first JRPG I've ever finished. I've beaten RPGs before, but never one of the Square-Enix variety. In fact, never one that's come from Japan at all. I've played a lot of them, but have either stopped at a save right before the final boss fight (I'm looking at you, Chrono Trigger) or gotten about 20 hours in and lost interest (any Final Fantasy game). It's weird to have been a gamer for so long and have sampled so much of the genre yet just be finishing one of them earlier tonight. Long story short, DQIV is great, and if you can find a copy (I understand that since I picked it up it has become harder to get ahold of) I very much recommend it.

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I too finished Costume Quest last night. First Platinum trophy I ever got (that's every achievement, in 360 terms) and I really enjoyed it. Definitely easy, but sharply written and a lot of fun. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Also this past week I've finished Splinter Cell Conviction and Dragon Quest IV for DS. Conviction got much better once I stopped trying to play it like Splinter Cell, but that just says to me that they made the wrong game. It was certainly not bad, but it wasn't anything at all how I'd like the series to be going. Oh well. It may be my last foray into the games. Also, I loved how during the final section of the game

the big baddie for the entire game tells you how he's going to pay you back for the airfield.

I got a good thumbs-related chuckle out of that one.

REMEMBER THE AIRFIELD, FISHER?

I did enjoy that game, but I have no idea how they expect you to be stealthy, especially near the end. For me, it just turns into a straight-up shootout.

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Dragon Quest IV is really really good, despite it having taken me over a year to play the 30 hours from beginning to end.

Ha, my completion time and my time spent playing the DS remake of Dragon Quest IV are similar. Actually, if you count playing the NES version halfway through on an emulator, it took me over a decade to beat this game.

You're right about the grinding; the first chapters of DQIV are paced amazingly well. I actually thought the same thing about the first parts of Final Fantasies V and VI. I thought they had amazing openings, but I am currently languishing in their endgames. According to online strategy guides I have at least twenty levels of grinding before I can take on Kefka, even though I have completed all sidequests. Not fun!

I would give Chrono Trigger another shot. Lavos is tough, but if you can stay alive you should be able to figure out his weak point. Plus in New Game+ he just keeps getting easier.

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