2012 Video Games Thread

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by cartman

I did eventually go back and play HL1 from start to finish, and to be honest, I didn't see what the big deal was, even trying to place myself back into the time it was released.

HL1 was the game that made it pointedly clear many game reviewers were only playing through the first bit of a game and then raving about it. There was no mention of the tedious jumping puzzle bit in the middle that had many players stark raving mad. Most of the love for Half Life came from the heavily cinematic opening bit, which hadn't really been seen before. They did a good job of making it feel like you were in a large, living level. But as for playing all the way through it, yes many were disappointed. But a large chunk of the gaming press had never played all the way through it, so the public at-large impression came from that opening bit.

[jeff061]

I loved everything about HL1 except the final alien world. The commando skirmishes were simply awesome at the time and there were a lot more parts than just the opening that were fantastic.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

HL1 was the game that made it pointedly clear many game reviewers were only playing through the first bit of a game and then raving about it. There was no mention of the tedious jumping puzzle bit in the middle that had many players stark raving mad. Most of the love for Half Life came from the heavily cinematic opening bit, which hadn't really been seen before. They did a good job of making it feel like you were in a large, living level. But as for playing all the way through it, yes many were disappointed. But a large chunk of the gaming press had never played all the way through it, so the public at-large impression came from that opening bit.

I could not disagree with this more.

At the time Half Life came out, most FPS games fit into the "kill a room full of monsters or bad guys, go to the next room" Very little story, very little communication, very little of anything other than the shooting.

I'm not saying the games were bad, they were immensely fun. They were very one note though. I'll never forget the feeling of being in the warehouse and having the enemy FLANK me and launch grenades. Or crawling in an air vent and then being shot out of the air vent into a fire fight.

Within a couple of years after Half Life, we had games like System Shock 2, No One Lives Forever and Deus Ex.

WEre there some horrible puzzles Of course there were. Hell, there are some horrible puzzles in games of today. But Half Life was far more than a few stupid jumping puzzles. It was atmosphere that had never been done. It was enemy AI that was actually good. It was a story that sucked you in.

All you have to do to see how impactual it was is to see how many of us fan boys were/are drooling for the chance to replay the game with better graphics. Read the reception and legacy section of the wiki on the game. It was liked by both reviewers and gamers.

This is in the same way GTAIII was jaw dropping, but had some horrific missions in it.

I'm not going to bash anyone who likes or dislikes a game. (or music or art or books or movies for that matter) But I will say if you truly think the game got to be as big as it did because reviewers didn't spend enough time on the game, I'm going to say you are flat out wrong.

[MizzouRah]

Thanks guys.. just purchased FTL.. for $8.99 why not?

Can't wait to burn some hours with it tonight.

[thesloppy]

I've played like 10 hours of FTL over the last 2 days. Great stuff.

[dubb93]

I'm terrible at FTL so far. I almost always forget that surviving long enough to flee is an option and do something stupid that results in the end of my ship or crew.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by dubb93

I'm terrible at FTL so far. I almost always forget that surviving long enough to flee is an option and do something stupid that results in the end of my ship or crew.

That's my problem in most Rogue type games.

I killed the boss on easy and unlocked three other ship types. I'm not very good with drones, but a mix of missile and laser is doing the trick.

[jeff061]

FTL is really really fantastic. And I generally don't like roguelikes.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I could not disagree with this more.

At the time Half Life came out, most FPS games fit into the "kill a room full of monsters or bad guys, go to the next room" Very little story, very little communication, very little of anything other than the shooting.

I'm not saying the games were bad, they were immensely fun. They were very one note though. I'll never forget the feeling of being in the warehouse and having the enemy FLANK me and launch grenades. Or crawling in an air vent and then being shot out of the air vent into a fire fight.

Within a couple of years after Half Life, we had games like System Shock 2, No One Lives Forever and Deus Ex.

WEre there some horrible puzzles Of course there were. Hell, there are some horrible puzzles in games of today. But Half Life was far more than a few stupid jumping puzzles. It was atmosphere that had never been done. It was enemy AI that was actually good. It was a story that sucked you in.

All you have to do to see how impactual it was is to see how many of us fan boys were/are drooling for the chance to replay the game with better graphics. Read the reception and legacy section of the wiki on the game. It was liked by both reviewers and gamers.

This is in the same way GTAIII was jaw dropping, but had some horrific missions in it.

I'm not going to bash anyone who likes or dislikes a game. (or music or art or books or movies for that matter) But I will say if you truly think the game got to be as big as it did because reviewers didn't spend enough time on the game, I'm going to say you are flat out wrong.

I agree here. Half Life isn't a great game by today's standards, but it changed the way we look at first person shooters and was amazing for its time.

When Half Life was released first person shooters more or less consisted of Quake, Doom, and Duke Nukem. Half Life put a story and a world that makes sense, from a design standpoint, in a shooter. These were things that weren't being done at the time. It changed shooters and it paved the way for the 1st person shooter/RPGs that are popular now.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Atocep

I agree here. Half Life isn't a great game by today's standards, but it changed the way we look at first person shooters and was amazing for its time.

When Half Life was released first person shooters more or less consisted of Quake, Doom, and Duke Nukem. Half Life put a story and a world that makes sense, from a design standpoint, in a shooter. These were things that weren't being done at the time. It changed shooters and it paved the way for the 1st person shooter/RPGs that are popular now.

It was a great advancement not only in design but also on the technical side. When Valve was pitching the game to publishers one of them shot them down and ended the meeting when they told him they were going to use skeletal animation for all of the characters because he didn't think it would be possible for them to do. Plus the enemy AI was an advancement over anything that had been done before.

[CrimsonFox]

To be fair to gstelmack I agree with some of his complaints. Reviewers indeed don't usually play to the end. And regarding judging a game by cinematics I do agree that far too many gaming companies want you to do exactly this. I'm tired of games with too many cinematics especially ones that bog down or even replace gameplay.

Of course I do agree with Troy and Acotep of how much HL changed the genre albeit it isn't the best at doing this but it was the groundbreaker that started this movement. For my money the best (and this is really just my favorites) are Unreal and Thief (which in itself shook up the whole genre yet again by focusing on stealth instead of shooting). Really the best ones for me are the ones that told a story THROUGH the FPS.

[Neon_Chaos]

I've unlocked the engi stealth ship in FTL, boy does it play in a different way. No shields, just a cloaking device.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

I've unlocked the engi stealth ship in FTL, boy does it play in a different way. No shields, just a cloaking device.

I failed so miserably at my one try with that ship.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

To be fair to gstelmack I agree with some of his complaints. Reviewers indeed don't usually play to the end. And regarding judging a game by cinematics I do agree that far too many gaming companies want you to do exactly this. I'm tired of games with too many cinematics especially ones that bog down or even replace gameplay.

Of course I do agree with Troy and Acotep of how much HL changed the genre albeit it isn't the best at doing this but it was the groundbreaker that started this movement. For my money the best (and this is really just my favorites) are Unreal and Thief (which in itself shook up the whole genre yet again by focusing on stealth instead of shooting). Really the best ones for me are the ones that told a story THROUGH the FPS.

I'm not saying he isn't right about a gaming reviewer playing through a level and reviewing a game. But his comments make it seem like the public was fooled because the reviewers loved the first level. . Half Life was a revolutionary title. You don't have to like it, you don't have to build an alter to it. . . but if you really want to say it was as big as it was only because the reviewers didn't play through the first level? Sorry. No dice.

[gstelmack]

At the time, many many many people felt gipped when they got to the jumping-puzzle levels and were disappointed they weren't warned. Agreed, the first part in Black Mesa was awesome for the time and did change the FPS genre. But the game had its fair share of problems that generally aren't openly acknowledged as well, especially once you got out of Black Mesa.

And note cartman's response, I was just trying to tell him he wasn't alone, and was trying to help explain the phenomenon.

[Matthean]

Obsidian is back with a KS project with a goal of $1.1 million. Its at $1.3 with 30 days to go. And yes, there are goals all the way up to $2.2 million and hinting at more.

Project Eternity by Obsidian Entertainment — Kickstarter

[oykib]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Obsidian is back with a KS project with a goal of $1.1 million. Its at $1.3 with 30 days to go. And yes, there are goals all the way up to $2.2 million and hinting at more.

Project Eternity by Obsidian Entertainment — Kickstarter

I'm in for $35. Let's just hope the lack of pressure from the publisher leads to a situation where these guys can actually finish a game.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

I failed so miserably at my one try with that ship.

My very very first jump, and I encounter a rebel fighter with an anti-ship droid.

Suffice to say, I switched back to the Torus.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

My very very first jump, and I encounter a rebel fighter with an anti-ship droid.

Suffice to say, I switched back to the Torus.

I just unlocked that ship on a run with a Kestrel Cruiser where I got to the capital rebel ship before being destroyed. Nearly had it taken out and was just about to take out his stealth ability when it got one final stealth shield off and wiped me out. I was using two big guns in the fight, I wonder if I would have been better served with a four smaller ones.

[JPhillips]

If you were barely alive trying to take out the boss with stealth, trust me, you wouldn't have made it.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

If you were barely alive trying to take out the boss with stealth, trust me, you wouldn't have made it.

I had him down to about 4 or 5 bars left on his hull with his shields gone, 1 more round of fire from both my cannon and laser might have been enough to get it down. Both were up when it destroyed me, but I have unable to fire off a shot on either due to the stealth.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by oykib

Just as I finished Knights of the Old Republic from the steam summer sale, KOTOR2 hit Steam. I played it on the XBox the first time. I'm looking forward to playing through it with mods.

Loved, loved that game, and bitter to this day that a) it wasn't finished and b) that instead of giving me a single player KOTOR3, they made SWOTR. I have to believe there is a market for people like me who want single-player RPG's; the hell with playing with 1M other "jedis", its my story!

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by mckerney

I had him down to about 4 or 5 bars left on his hull with his shields gone, 1 more round of fire from both my cannon and laser might have been enough to get it down. Both were up when it destroyed me, but I have unable to fire off a shot on either due to the stealth.

you wouldn't have made it.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Loved, loved that game, and bitter to this day that a) it wasn't finished

QFT.

The 2 second ending and screenwipe->starwars theme fucking pissed me off to no end.

That was a glorious waste of invested time and emotion to the entire story.

[BrianD]

FTL is a frustratingly fun game. Every time I go heavy in one area, I get killed because of something I neglected. If I try to go balanced, I end up being weak everywhere. Every time I reach a zone with nothing in it except some scrap, I wonder if I am salvaging my own recently destroyed ship.

[stevew]

I decided to pull the trigger on the Playstation Monitor, since it was down to $199. I should get it this week and will post impressions.

[jeff061]

Originally Posted by BrianD

FTL is a frustratingly fun game. Every time I go heavy in one area, I get killed because of something I neglected. If I try to go balanced, I end up being weak everywhere. Every time I reach a zone with nothing in it except some scrap, I wonder if I am salvaging my own recently destroyed ship.

I don't think there is any expectation that you succeed .

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by jeff061

I don't think there is any expectation that you succeed .

I have zero expectation of that. That is part of what makes it so fun...there is no one winning strategy. I'm not sure there is ANY winning strategy, but I'm going to keep plugging away.

[BrianD]

I just lost to the flagship on easy with The Engi Cruiser. I thought I had my ship pretty well stacked with weapons, upgrades, and crew. I got the flagship down to 3 hull units, but couldn't get the rest. I'm not sure I was really all that close to winning. Time to rethink my build again.

[Groundhog]

I think my biggest weakness in FTL has been my weapon layouts... seems like you need to be versatile to take on just about anything, especially once you start going up against multi-shield ships, where as I'm usually just maxing out each ship's standard build right now.

[dubb93]

My last several FTL attempts have ended up failing to solar flares. These normally happen when I'm boarded and hit with solar flares repeatedly. The fires get out of control and the O2 is normally wiped out by the boarding party. I am then pretty well helpless. Even when I eventually kill the boarding party the solar flares, the ensuing fires, and lack of oxygen normally wipe me out. This is only made worse if there is also a ship firing missiles at me while all this is going on.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by dubb93

My last several FTL attempts have ended up failing to solar flares. These normally happen when I'm boarded and hit with solar flares repeatedly. The fires get out of control and the O2 is normally wiped out by the boarding party. I am then pretty well helpless. Even when I eventually kill the boarding party the solar flares, the ensuing fires, and lack of oxygen normally wipe me out. This is only made worse if there is also a ship firing missiles at me while all this is going on.

Are you using your doors to fight fires (opening the airlocks, and letting the oxygen deficiency take care of the fire) before starting to repair? Once I started doing that my firefighting went a lot better.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Are you using your doors to fight fires (opening the airlocks, and letting the oxygen deficiency take care of the fire) before starting to repair? Once I started doing that my firefighting went a lot better.

It always seems that the fires hit my damn medibay, which affects my usual 'melee-until-nearly-dead-then-retreat-to-medibay' strategy, which then leads to my death.

[BrianD]

Opening the doors works well until the fire spreads to the door operation room.

I just ran into a fun situation. I am out of fuel and fighting a ship where neither of us can beat the other's shields. I keep rotating my crew so they can all become master of everything, but I will eventually have to forfeit.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by BrianD

Opening the doors works well until the fire spreads to the door operation room.

I just ran into a fun situation. I am out of fuel and fighting a ship where neither of us can beat the other's shields. I keep rotating my crew so they can all become master of everything, but I will eventually have to forfeit.

Forfeit? You mean lower shields?

Instead of just jumping once the drive is charged back up?

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Forfeit? You mean lower shields?

Instead of just jumping once the drive is charged back up?

He can't jump because he has no fuel, so he's stuck facing an opponent where neither side can beat the other... I imagine the enemy came about as part of the emergency beacon option. Yeah, that's an interesting 'bug' actually.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Forfeit? You mean lower shields?

Instead of just jumping once the drive is charged back up?

Lower shields or kill the power to the oxygen. I have zero fuel, so the only way I can move is if I activate my emergency beacon. I can't do that while I am in battle.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

It always seems that the fires hit my damn medibay, which affects my usual 'melee-until-nearly-dead-then-retreat-to-medibay' strategy, which then leads to my death.

If at all possible, try to melee IN the medbay, as you will heal during combat, and be pretty near invincible, and won't lose any precious crew members, as long as you're not severely outnumbered. If you're not in ship-to-ship combat, you can just wait in the medbay for the boarding party to meet you, after they rotate through systems....as long as they come to the medbay before the oxygen supply you'll be fine. If they hit the Oxygen first, you can usually still wait until they engage you in the medbay, and then sneak off a crew member to fix the oxygen.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by BrianD

I just lost to the flagship on easy with The Engi Cruiser. I thought I had my ship pretty well stacked with weapons, upgrades, and crew. I got the flagship down to 3 hull units, but couldn't get the rest. I'm not sure I was really all that close to winning. Time to rethink my build again.

Try to get full engine and shields. If you get the max pilot and engine crew bonuses that will put your dodge over 50% and the four shields should minimize damage.

There is a surprise, though, after you first beat the flagship.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by BrianD

Lower shields or kill the power to the oxygen. I have zero fuel, so the only way I can move is if I activate my emergency beacon. I can't do that while I am in battle.

Gotcha. Yeah, I get paranoid and buy fuel every chance I get. 'Course, that means I don't have much scrap for upgrades. I don't get stuck much but every now and then I get skunked.

[jeff061]

Just made it to the boss on normal for first time. My hull sprung to many leaks in the battle and my crew suffocated. While I had shields maxed I hadn't upgraded my engines at all, I think that would have turned the tide.

I plowed through pretty much everyone easily from stages 1-6 with the stock lasers and a pair of ion cannons. 7 was more difficult, had to play much more cautious, jumped around until I could afford defensive/repair droids and enough reactor juice to power full shields, weapons and droids. That helped, but alas not enough.

[MizzouRah]

I kicked butt on easy, but had to go backwards to jump (I guess you can't always jump forward?) One ship in nebula and I was dead meat.

Fun game though.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I kicked butt on easy, but had to go backwards to jump (I guess you can't always jump forward?) One ship in nebula and I was dead meat.

Fun game though.

Right. Some star systems are dead ends, so you have to decide on occasion if you REALLY want to go to that system.

[mckerney]

Anyone else playing Borderlands 2 tonight? It should unlock in about 40 minutes.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Right. Some star systems are dead ends, so you have to decide on occasion if you REALLY want to go to that system.

Yeah, I'm learning that.

Very addicting game and very frantic at times.

[StLee]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

To be fair to gstelmack I agree with some of his complaints. Reviewers indeed don't usually play to the end. And regarding judging a game by cinematics I do agree that far too many gaming companies want you to do exactly this. I'm tired of games with too many cinematics especially ones that bog down or even replace gameplay.

I was thinking about this for games I have played recently. Granted, I am not a gamer like many of you are, but I love sports text sims, sports arcade titles, and RPGs. I play the latter two types on my PS3. I have a few games I have yet to play or barely played, but a comparison of games I played recently are Fallout: New Vegas, Skyrim, and Final Fantasy (whatever # I have, maybe from 2 or 3 years ago). For Vegas and Skyrim, you get your little cinematic introduction and then you're thrust into the game.

For FF, you get a cinematic for 15 minutes, play 5 minutes, get a cinematic for 5 minutes, and on and on and on. Is the whole game like that? I couldn't get past the first dungeon because it bored the shit out of me that I had to be locked into conversations about characters I have no interest in just yet.

[MizzouRah]

FTL - why would you target anything but the enemy's weapons first?

That's been my strategy so far and I haven't made it through to the end once yet on easy.. maybe my strategy stinks!

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

FTL - why would you target anything but the enemy's weapons first?

That's been my strategy so far and I haven't made it through to the end once yet on easy.. maybe my strategy stinks!

As you start going up against ships with tons of shields (3 or 4 or so) you need alot of directed fire to punch through those things to get the shields down to then take out the weapons.

I still haven't beaten the final boss ship on easy yet, but have made it to the third round vs it. Trying it now with a new ship (Type B of the initial ship you get) and think my chances are good this time.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Alan T

As you start going up against ships with tons of shields (3 or 4 or so) you need alot of directed fire to punch through those things to get the shields down to then take out the weapons.

I still haven't beaten the final boss ship on easy yet, but have made it to the third round vs it. Trying it now with a new ship (Type B of the initial ship you get) and think my chances are good this time.

Not yet..

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

FTL - why would you target anything but the enemy's weapons first?

That's been my strategy so far and I haven't made it through to the end once yet on easy.. maybe my strategy stinks!

Have you played with the Engi Cruiser? Starting with the Ion Blast and a drone pretty much forces you to target the shields and let the drone pick the ship apart.