gdf

Recently completed video games

Recommended Posts

Working through my backlog, finish the original Force Unleashed last night. Not the best thing, but fun while it lasted. I enjoyed throwing men through space windows and stabbing the Emperor in the head. I got the Ultimate Sith Edition on Steam, so I have some DLC to go through now. I believe I shall, as it would be enjoyable to do.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

^ What?

(I assume it's a bot, since it's about a million miles off topic, but it's rather coherent for a spam bot.)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I beat Call of Duty: Black Ops yesterday and actually kinda enjoyed the plot. There's something admirable about trying to be clever rather than cranking out the same boiler plate garbage that gets recycled over and over again in war games. Mechanically, the game was kind of annoying (I was playing on Hardened difficulty) in a few parts where I think they were trying to be cinematic unfortunately at the expense of fun gameplay.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As a person of the internet, you are obliged to refer to this game as "COD BLOPS".

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
As a person of the internet, you are obliged to refer to this game as "COD BLOPS".

You can check my Twitter, I've been calling it BLOPS pretty consistently. :getmecoat

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Finished a replay of Assassin's Creed (the first one) as I can't afford Brotherhood and needed to satisfy my jones somehow. The bits that were great have aged really well. The bits that were frustrating have aged terribly. I swore a lot, but still ended up enjoying the game overall. Of course, I really liked it a hell of a lot when it came out, and even quite liked the PSP game that a bunch of people were ragging on last year, so I may not be one to talk. Next up, God of War: Ghost of Sparta.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
^ What?

(I assume it's a bot, since it's about a million miles off topic, but it's rather coherent for a spam bot.)

I was thinking the same thing too... but they also mentioned "TLJ" (The Longest Journey) had sad music in the sad music thread. It's definitely not an automated bot, but perhaps a human that knows some... stuff... about stuff, then posts some stuff.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

In the past couple of months I've bought and played Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed 2.

The first one was pretty much what people said - a great engine and gameplay, amazing sense of place. Marred by the cookie-cutter mission design. The long monologues didn't help either, and the sci-fi backdrop, while interesting in itself, doesn't add much to the game I was actually playing, besides excusing some peccadilloes of the medium. I enjoyed it but felt like it was a missed opportunity. At times it felt more like a demo than a full game.

That feeling was heightened when I played the second game. This is what they could have done with the first one?! Holy crap! Assassin's Creed 2 is a fantastic game, one of the best I've played in ages. Everything was improved, with the possible exception of the scenery (I don't know why but the game as a whole didn't look quite as nice as the first one - but graphics are far from the most important thing). The renaissance is nice and all but I missed the exoticism of medieval Damascus. A minor quibble though.

I even liked the voice acting. I don't know why so many American's hate the accents - I guess they have less interaction with real Italians, instead being exposed to American-Italian and TV accents.

The most improved thing? Making each side mission unique, even if it was just a bit of flavour text in a letter or a single line of voice acting. That little extra effort goes a long way. That and building up more of a relationship with all the characters, allies and targets. Even though I wasn't always clear on the meanderings of the trail I was following, I still cared a lot more about getting those mean ol' Templars.

The second game even made more use of the framing premise, which wasn't that crazy left field if you pay attention and get all the glyphs. In fact it was kind of predictable, but not badly done by any means.

So yes, awesome game. I'm looking forward to eventually getting my hands on Brotherhood, and in the meantime I will play the DLC.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I grabbed Puzzle Agent in the Steam sale and finished it in one sitting. Creepy as fuck, reminded me a lot of Twin Peaks. Seriously, I'll have nightmares about little red dudes tonight.

On the game itself, it's very reminiscent of Prof. Layton. A little bit short (37 puzzles I think), I only got really stumped in one of them (hotel room, completely over-thought it), other 5 I did stupid mistakes and corrected right away, the rest was easily done in the 1st try. I only used hints for the one I got stumped. I'd always hit How? to check if my reasoning was right and I noticed some lacked any explanation whatsoever...

If you like Prof. Layton and you have a couple of bucks to spare, it's an enjoyable game.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Finished God Of War: Ghost of Sparta for PSP today. I know God of War seems to be met with mostly indifference around here, but I quite enjoy the series. It's not the best thing, and certainly not a challenge, but it knows exactly what it wants to be and executes beautifully time after time. I'd say that this newest portable one is (despite a disappointingly easy [played on normal difficulty] final boss) probably my favourite of those I've played so far. I've finished every God of War game save 3 on Normal difficulty. This one is fantastic. I'm becoming a really big fan of Ready at Dawn studios. Easily recommend it to anyone with a PSP in the market for a character-action game. I'm getting a bit weary of the way that they keep bolting backstory into the series with the portable installments. (Oh wow! Kratos has a brother that was

kidnapped by Ares and Athena when they were young.

He knows who's responsible, but somehow it never came up when he interacts with them in games later in the timeline.) Taken by itself though, it's a compelling enough narrative to get you from setpiece to setpiece, and the setpieces are great.

Again, greatly enjoyed this game. Anyone with a PSP should give it a shot.

EDIT: Whups. Fucked up my spoiler tags. All better.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I beat Call of Duty: Black Ops yesterday and actually kinda enjoyed the plot. There's something admirable about trying to be clever rather than cranking out the same boiler plate garbage that gets recycled over and over again in war games. Mechanically, the game was kind of annoying (I was playing on Hardened difficulty) in a few parts where I think they were trying to be cinematic unfortunately at the expense of fun gameplay.

I also have completed this game somewhat recently.

The plot was nice, I'll admit I quite enjoyed going through it, although it pulled the nastiest stunt on me.

When you're on Rebirth Islandm you know that (as Mason and Reznov) you're doing the wrong thing, yet the game still forces you to do it. There is no way to not play that level, but then again, I was somewhat reassured in teh fact taht it was all my memories, and couldn't be taken back anyway.

Just played some Zombie on "Five" with a friend and two randoms, one random was really helpful, communicated well and knew what he was doing, the other asked stupid question constantly, sounded about twelve and was really quite annoying. It gives me nostalgia of World at War in that sense.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

When you're on Rebirth Islandm you know that (as Mason and Reznov) you're doing the wrong thing, yet the game still forces you to do it. There is no way to not play that level, but then again, I was somewhat reassured in teh fact taht it was all my memories, and couldn't be taken back anyway.

Dude, spoiler tag that. Glad i've already finished the game.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Dude, spoiler tag that. Glad i've already finished the game.

I was fairly sure that by the time you get to rebirth the interregator had made it pretty obvious that you weren't supposed to

kill Steiner

Which is why I didn't put that into the original post.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just finished a few games in the last week.

I played Doom 3 again. After playing Wolfenstein I had a hankering to experience this game at the fidelity it was meant to be played at. I was kinda bummed out, though, because I was still in a run and gun mood, and Doom 3 requires you to slow down and read e-mails and listen to audio recordings. Outside of the exposition stuff, it did help to play it in a twitchy fashion. The hell section still stands out as being my favorite, especially because the lighting is better. I like id's use of darkness for the most part, but there were some sections when I was just firing my gun at a pitch black screen, hoping to hit something. Anyhoo, overall I had a good time.

I beat Red Steel 2 today after picking it up for 30 CDN last week. I found the combat pretty fun when it worked and annoying when it didn't. Down slashes seemed to not register well. In terms of design, that game has an open world for no real discernible reason. So much of my time was spent simply going back and forth through slow loading Metroid Prime doors to pick up items or flip switches without any combat at all. Unless you count hitting boxes and other stuff as combat. I feel like that game would have benefited from more linear design, or more repopulating of areas with enemies. At least I have a motion plus finally.

The third game I beat was Sonic Colors. I really enjoyed this one. Great music, lots of side scrolling gameplay broken up with behind the back sections. I was worried that the gameplay would be less interesting than the day stuff in Unleashed, but the use of the different power-ups really mixed things up. I'm also really pumped to retry the levels for S-Ranks and find all the Red Rings in each act. I understand it's hard to make levels of this fidelity when they're gone through so fast, so I'm glad they put in goals to make replayability important. I also like the arcade mode levels, but I wish they were also ranked like the main story acts. I was super disappointed that over 6 worlds there were only 3 unique bosses, with later ones being slightly more difficult versions of the first ones. The tone they took with the story was really nice, even if the dialogue itself fell flat more often than not. If there's going to be a story element, I prefer cartoon Sonic (

or Colors) to animé sonic (Sonic 2006). Also unlike Red steel 2, this game features a complete lack of hub worlds. You just go to a menu, choose an act and then play it. I hope lame hub stuff is a thing of the past. Unless it's as well done as it was in Super Mario Galaxy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I played and finished Puzzle Agent! I think a common criticism of the game is that the puzzles weren't great and that, some times, the rules weren't clear enough and I would agree with all that. However, I really, really enjoyed the game! A great atmosphere that tends to hover around unsettling and mysterious the entire time, and constant sense of progression due to it being so short.

And wow, did my heart skip a beat when One of the Hidden showed up in a puzzle I was working on.

I also thought that the ending sequence was really well done.

The bit where agent Tethers blindly fires his gun at the gnomes and then it turns out they caught the bullets with their teeth had me laughing out loud.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just finished Recettear! This game tickles me in all my right spots, even if that means I'm a Japanese schoolgirl...

It reminds me a LOT of Persona, because of the combination of time and resource management with dungeon hack'n'slash, besides being extremely Japanese. At least give the demo a try if you're curious about it, highly recommended.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I beat some things recently:

Worms 2 - Believe it or not, this game runs on Windows 7... barely. Also, it has 45 single-player missions which for the most part are poorly designed; however, one mission, 44 in particular is insane. You have to find a way to glitch the engine/AI to be able to beat it, was this a joke or something in the Team 17 team? But anyways, it's still an integral part of my teenage years and I love it (just not the single-player).

Halo 3: ODST - My favourite Halo is recent memory... definitely surpassing 2 and 3. I just loved the atmosphere and soundtrack so much, and the departure from the typical Halo "save the universe thing" was nice.

Vindictus - My bimonthly affair with a random new MMORPG set my sights on this gem. Was excellent until I got bored (not saying it's boring, that's just how I am with MMOs). Very high polish with neat, unique gameplay. Issues: Lag and story (but hey, at least there was some story).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
In the past couple of months I've bought and played Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed 2.

The first one was pretty much what people said - a great engine and gameplay, amazing sense of place. Marred by the cookie-cutter mission design. The long monologues didn't help either, and the sci-fi backdrop, while interesting in itself, doesn't add much to the game I was actually playing, besides excusing some peccadilloes of the medium. I enjoyed it but felt like it was a missed opportunity. At times it felt more like a demo than a full game.

That feeling was heightened when I played the second game. This is what they could have done with the first one?! Holy crap! Assassin's Creed 2 is a fantastic game, one of the best I've played in ages. Everything was improved, with the possible exception of the scenery (I don't know why but the game as a whole didn't look quite as nice as the first one - but graphics are far from the most important thing). The renaissance is nice and all but I missed the exoticism of medieval Damascus. A minor quibble though.

I even liked the voice acting. I don't know why so many American's hate the accents - I guess they have less interaction with real Italians, instead being exposed to American-Italian and TV accents.

The most improved thing? Making each side mission unique, even if it was just a bit of flavour text in a letter or a single line of voice acting. That little extra effort goes a long way. That and building up more of a relationship with all the characters, allies and targets. Even though I wasn't always clear on the meanderings of the trail I was following, I still cared a lot more about getting those mean ol' Templars.

The second game even made more use of the framing premise, which wasn't that crazy left field if you pay attention and get all the glyphs. In fact it was kind of predictable, but not badly done by any means.

So yes, awesome game. I'm looking forward to eventually getting my hands on Brotherhood, and in the meantime I will play the DLC.

Pretty much exactly how I felt about the series as well. I never even finished the first game it was so tedious, but the second one drew me right back in with an intriguing story and improved gameplay. Just wait until you get to play brotherhood man, I just got it the other day and it's soooooo good.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Puzzle Agent.

Man, that game was pretty awesome. I enjoyed seeing Jake and Sean in the credits, also a guy who's nickname is "Seg".

The puzzles were almost all excellent (Although some of them were messed up, i'm looking at you 'put bugs in pens' puzzle) and the story was great, I loved the art style and the sound and music were perfect. It was a tiny, stupid thing, but I fucking loved the filing cabinet in which the puzzles are stored.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Puzzle Agent.

Man, that game was pretty awesome. I enjoyed seeing Jake and Sean in the credits, also a guy who's nickname is "Seg".

Agree that the game is awesome. I'm pretty sure Seg has been nicknamed as such since pre-IT though. If I recall correctly, I've seen him in the credits from as early as Sam and Max S1.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Just finished Recettear! This game tickles me in all my right spots, even if that means I'm a Japanese schoolgirl...

It reminds me a LOT of Persona, because of the combination of time and resource management with dungeon hack'n'slash, besides being extremely Japanese. At least give the demo a try if you're curious about it, highly recommended.

I'm playing it right now and loving it!

I think the Persona comparison is pretty apt, especially considering the joke they made about not calling the door to go home in a dungeon a "Go-Home".

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just finished Lara Croft and the Something of Something. It was awesome! They ditched the horrible storytelling from the main Tomb Raider series and focused instead on alternating between intense 2D overhead combat and puzzle-solving. The pacing was perfect - the game switches back and forth between both activities fast enough that you're never, ever bored. And the puzzles are just the right level of difficulty that you're never stumped, but you still feel pretty clever once you hit the solution. :tup::tup:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now