Recently completed video games

[Orv]

Years after I purchased it on GamersGate, I've beat Kings Bounty.

Chris has already gone over most of it, from the grinding required in later portions to the fantastic writing and absolutely crazy world, but all-in-all I found it lacking in many places. There were plenty of cool quests (marry your wife, also a zombie!) and the units were interesting, but you ended up using the same ones past certain points in an area.

Also, that giant godsdamned turtle can go screw itself. Arggggggh.

[Kolzig]

In my opinion out of the Build games really worth mentioning after Duke are:

Duke Nukem 3D (1996)

Blood (1997)

Shadow Warrior (1997)

Redneck Rampage (1997)

All basically inside a year's time. Things changed quickly to people using more Carmack tech after Quake came out.

I was really amazed how good the Build engine was for it's time, I'm not dissing it even one bit. 3D Realms had all kinds of cool stuff happening in almost every level of Duke3D to show the power of Build.

It would've been great to see more development coming out of that and having a real Build 2.0 or so and to have new games from 3D Realms using that engine etc.

[Noyb]

Just got the

White Butterfly

ending for Rez HD (

95% of enemies shot down and not getting hit in the final boss rush. My stats were 97.79% shot down, 89.91% items collected

).

Now I'm around 1,116th place on the worldwide leaderboards for Direct Assault (beating the game in a single sitting).

[ThunderPeel2001]

Congrats! Is the pink butterfly ending the 100% one?

[SometingStupid]

I got round to finishing Borderlands eventually. Really good game though, had a lot of fun with it although I kinda felt that the end was slightly lacklustre and a bit too fast. I haven't done the DLC and I don't plan to, although I completed every single quest in the main game.

As was said in the podcast at some point, the final boss really was just stupid and easy. I felt like I had cheated the game by just standing there, hid behind a pillar shooting it until it was dead, only moving when it attacked to take cover, but I digress, they had to end with something.

EDIT: Also, I quite liked the way that the developers seemed to embrace the use of just running about and trying to jump up buildings, it's usually something that game designers (especially in RPG's) don't like to allow the player to do and add invisible walls and such to stop you from jumping up onto buildings, but Borderlands allows and encourages it.

[Tanukitsune]

I beat Chantelise, it's strange to see the 2D characters in a 3D world, but it works!

It has lots of extra stuff to do, secret treasures to find, fishing, secret areas...

The way the game play is weird, you only level up your HP and you gain some extra items slots by beating bosses which you need to carry items that increase your other stats. The magic is weird too, you have to pick up magic stones to make a spell and you can only use them in the order you pick them up.

The most interesting thing is the economy, the items that you can sell decrease in value each time you sell one, which can be annoying if you actually need the money.

[Thompson]

Atom Zombie Smasher

Picked it up in the HB3 and it's probably my favorite game of the lot, just loads of zombie wasting fun. I'm not really done with it yet, but I finished the campaign a few times and it's a great game. Love the art style and the whole atmosphere, it reminds me of DEFCON in the way it goes for an aesthetic and nails it. The units and special weapons are ultra satisfying, (although Zombie Bait is terrible) and the victory points race mechanic is excellent. I'm a little baffled by the sound design though; the game was made by Blendo Games, who are based in America, yet the radio chatter seems to all be Australian accented people.

My only actual complaint is the terrible achievements. Not that it's really important, but i'm never going to get most of those.

[miffy495]

Zombie bait is super useful! What are you talking about?

[Thompson]

I only ever had one scenario where it was useful, if i'd had the choice I would have just used troops and artillery. Maybe a barricade or two.

[miffy495]

For me to get the summer camp achievement it was vital. Also, triggering it at just the right moment can save an entire helicopter load if you know how to use it. I'm guessing our play styles are incredibly different...

[Tanukitsune]

I just beat Mafia II and I loved it while I'm not a big fan of gangster games, I love the 50's world it takes place in...

OK, I lie, it was pretty awesome to get a tailored suit with a trench coat and gun down people with a tommy gun and I only use the tommy gun unless it's not available to me.

It was so great to listen to the radio, visit a 50's diner and I'm glad it didn't have all that extra padding every other sandbox game has, well it has it as DLC missions, which I play for a while but didn't like.

This is being nitpicky, but I don't see people swearing like they did back then.

[Nappi]

Splinter Cell: Conviction turned out to be a very entertaining stealth action lite experience*. I seem to remember some people complaining how unimpressive the graphics were but the game looked pretty gorgeous to me. The gameplay was smooth as well apart from a couple of awkward control mapping choices.

The plot was completely forgettable and stupid. To be fair, though, it could have made more sense if I had been familiar with Splinter Cell canon Universe. Also, Idle Thumbs 'casters weren't kidding about the bizarre enemy yells. They made sure I remembered the airfield right till the end!

I'm not sure if I would pay full price for this game, but at the cost of a discounted indie game, you could do much worse (for example, buy a discounted indie game).

* I should probably point out that I would surely have hated it, had I played any of the older Splinter Cell games.

[miffy495]

The plot was completely forgettable and stupid. To be fair, though, it could have made more sense if I had been familiar with Splinter Cell canon Universe.

I am. It made a bit more sense, but not enough.

I'm not sure if I would pay full price for this game, but at the cost of a discounted indie game, you could do much worse (for example, buy a discounted indie game).

Why is buying a discounted indie game worse? I've had LOADS of fun with discounted indie games!

* I should probably point out that I would surely have hated it, had I played any of the older Splinter Cell games.

Not necessarily. I enjoyed it enough as a game, though parts were utterly infuriating. No more so than many other games I've given a passing mental grade to though. As a fan of Splinter Cell, I will say that it did not feel like Splinter Cell and there are enough generic action games out there that the progression of the series towards that saddens me and I wish it were more of a traditional SC experience. As a person who likes an action game now and then, meh. I've played better, but I've certainly played worse as well.

[Nappi]

Why is buying a discounted indie game worse? I've had LOADS of fun with discounted indie games!

Because that discounted indie game might be absolute crap. If you buy a good indie game then it's all good of course. Sorry for confusion.

Not necessarily. I enjoyed it enough as a game, though parts were utterly infuriating. No more so than many other games I've given a passing mental grade to though. As a fan of Splinter Cell, I will say that it did not feel like Splinter Cell and there are enough generic action games out there that the progression of the series towards that saddens me and I wish it were more of a traditional SC experience. As a person who likes an action game now and then, meh. I've played better, but I've certainly played worse as well.

I liked the stealth but it could have been quite a bit deeper (ability to carry bodies or knock on walls to distract enemies would have been nice, for example). The execution system was clever and worked quite well.

On the other hand, I tend to get frustrated with hardcore stealth games because the player is often completely fucked if spotted and I get spotted a lot because I suck the controls are so clumsy or whatever. At least, in this game you can blast your way through the area and try to make a bit less noise in the next.

What were the most infuriating parts for you, by the way?

[Orv]

Man Nappi, never ever play Thief, if you feel that way.

[miffy495]

God, trying to get out of that complex where the guys with the night vision goggles show up and the laser grids all turn on stands out as a particularly horrible section. That bit where 6 or so of them burst into the room at once right after you've finished a cutscene and are completely vulnerable being the worst part of it. There were actually a few times when the game would have a big cutscene followed by dudes rushing wherever you are looking for you and giving you nowhere near enough time to hide (remember the airfield? [seriously, I remember a section like that at the airfield]), but that one was the worst.

[epiclairs]

Brutal Legend :tup:

The Good:

(skip this if you hate lame fanboy praise ridden reviews)

This game is just stupid fun. Hilariously awesome fun. I barely even remember it coming out for some reason, but it took the " Peeling out on some dudes face " Thumbs story for me to take an interest. The game starts with you taking the role of Eddie Riggs, a Roadie for some lame emo band. Some accident happens and then poof, bang, boom, you're back in medieval brutal metal times. Complete with multiple badass dudes trying to kick your ass, amazingly beautiful open world scenery, hilariously voiced story dialog, an awesomely metal soundtrack, and an extremely fun and brutal battle system. This game was everything I could hope for in a game.

The Surprises:

The battle system in this game was a huge surprise. Having really just picked the game up on a whim, I pretty much expected an experience similar to that of Dante's Inferno. I had no idea this game mixed RTS styled tower defense and close up hack and slash action. Battles consist of you basically taking command of an army of brutal rockers that you can build, upgrade, buff, direct, and fight alongside. The goal is to annihilate the opposing forces stage before they destroy yours. Extremely fun and different.

Another unexpected was the stunningly beautiful open world landscapes. As stated before, I'd started this game expecting something pretty subpar (with no basis for this I might add, I'd known very little about the game). So being thrown into a world chock full of things like giant stonehenge-ish swords stuck into a beautifully lush meadow was pretty refreshing. There were points in this game where I just drove my badass hot rod around and looked at things. Awesomely beautiful things.

The Meh:

I have little to complain about. Hodrod controls were a little difficult at times, and the escort missions tended to be a little annoying because the enemies were a little hard to spot. That pretty much it.

[Thyroid]

I just finished Ben There, Dan That, which was pretty great. It's so lighthearted and fun, and makes me wish for more things in a similar vein. It's also quite funny.

I had a shitty day, but by the end of Ben There, Dan That all was forgotten. I played it through in one sitting and finished it with a smile on my face. That's a pretty big compliment.

It's not perfect (there's at least one character with no puzzle use whatsoever and who's just there for needless exposition), but I just really liked it. Some lines in there were killer. Overall, if you need some lighthearted adventure game goodness, play Ben There, Dan That.

I can't even decide what the best line in the game was.

[Ben X]

I just finished Ben There, Dan That, which was pretty great.

It's not perfect (there's at least one character with no puzzle use whatsoever and who's just there for needless exposition), but I just really liked it.

I can't even decide what the best line in the game was.

The best line is "

HAVING A VERY LARGE PENIS

".

People have complained about the non-useful character before. I don't quite understand it - surely part of an AG is the red herrings? Furthermore, Sam And Max had non-useful bigfoots at the party, and no one complains; MI2 had the pointless Governor Fatso food pipes screen...

But it would be churlish of me to nitpick your one criticism, and we certainly lost the useless characters in the sequel so perhaps we're with you on the 'rough' feel of them.

Hooray for Kroms! Hooray for my game which I hardly ever promote!

...

[ThunderPeel2001]

Don't forget about that one puzzle everyone complains about.

[Sno]

For no particular reason, I just played through Nier. Really a bad, dated game in a lot of ways.

Amazing bosses though, and i dug the story. That game also has an incredible soundtrack.

So i guess i'm feeling about it overall.

[Noyb]

For no particular reason, I just played through Nier.

Haven't played it, but from spoilers I've read, did you make sure to

replay the game after beating it? New game+ actually changes the story significantly.

[Sno]

Haven't played it, but from spoilers I've read, did you make sure to

replay the game after beating it? New game+ actually changes the story significantly.

Yeah, i know about all that, and i could probably motor through new game+ pretty quickly if i really wanted to, but there are parts of that game i did not like at all. So i did the lazy, awful thing; i read a story faq and looked up the alternate endings on youtube. Still, those alternate endings are tied to a lot of achievement points, so I might end up doing it anyways. Heh.

I was really down on Nier at first though, i kind of stuck with it because it seemed to be such a cult favorite with some people, and I gradually warmed up to it. I like it, but i don't think i'd recommend it, is kind of where i ended up with it. It's a really terribly ugly game with a lot of really archaic and awful quest design. (Outside of a few fairly brilliant moments.) The combat has a really cool feel to it though, and the story was well above the average JRPG.

[Thyroid]

People have complained about the non-useful character before. I don't quite understand it - surely part of an AG is the red herrings? Furthermore, Sam And Max had non-useful bigfoots at the party, and no one complains; MI2 had the pointless Governor Fatso food pipes screen...

Well, there's a few differences.

Phat's room is hardly usable. There's little to no interaction there, and I do believe the book on his stomach - one of very few things you can click - comes into play.

The bigfoots (bigfeet?) are all in the background, if I remember correctly, and interact little.

The Governor of England was in the foreground, which is a non-verbal way of saying "Hey! Me! Look at me!" (it's the antithesis of pixel hunting). Not only that, but he did deliver exposition we'd already gathered from a flying newspaper, and had multiple dialogue trees with no story momentum - the former indicating he was part of a puzzle (adventure games tend to do that), the latter hinting he was part of the puzzle, but not the overall story (the opposite of Phat!). I suspected that I needed to get in his house to obtain whatever item to use on the metal pole, because I was stuck on that for a while. (Turns out you can't solve it till the end of the game.)

Overall, though, that's my only real nitpick. I really enjoyed that game. :tup: I'm looking forward to playing Time Gentlemen, Please! in the near future.

[Tanukitsune]

I also beat Splinter Cell: Conviction recently, which was probably a bad idea since it spoiled the other games a bit.

I think it was too "FPS-y", I was playing on easy and near the end even if you got a stealth headshot it would NEVER kill the enemy, so it always ended in a gun fight.... I skipped a a few games in the series, but I never had to fight this many enemies in the older games!

I know the game has a "mark & execute" move, but near the end of the game it's not that useful.

I wouldn't mind if the new Splinter games followed this one's steps if it had more stealth and less gun fights, or at least let a head shot kill an enemy, dammit!