The Video Games Thread II - The Resurrection

[Toon Wolf]

Interesting, LW. I thought you'd me much more positive about it than that! It sounds pretty poor, though to be fair the BF3 campaign isn't much better. It's fun, it's lots of good set pieces, it has a wafer thin plot and it's over quickly. I think I said 6 hours earlier, it was maybe 8 hours. But it's not enough.

As for your comment on the MW3 multiplayer? It's ace you said, but my question is, other than the Kill Confirmed mode, is it anything but an expansion pack? Can you drive vehicles? Can you pilot aircraft? Can you operate as a medic and heal team-mates? Can you act as a sniper and get a bonus for spotting enemies? Can you blow up enemies cover so they can't hide in one place all the time? Can you form a squad and finish the match and get a bonus for being the top squad in the game? And from what I've heard the maps are painfully small, is this true? Is it any more than a contest to see who has the fastest reaction time? £45 for MW2v2.0 is a con if you ask me. I'm glad I didn't bother. Time to grow up Mr Langdale and play BF3, it's a real man's game...

 

[Langers]

Bloody hell man, do you work for EA? :icon_lol:

Multiplayer excellent so far. A few new features but nothing groundbreaking. It is exactly what I expected it to be. Which suits me.

The single player is also what I expected - sadly. Ah well - not like I bought it for the campaign mode.

 

[Langers]

A quick point about the maps - they're busy. But good busy. Loads of stuff littering the floor for example - they look ace. But busy doesn't mean too small.

I don't agree that they're too small either. As they're all pretty new, people are tending to pass through the various choke points more than they will when they're used to them - and when everyone is doing that, it does make it feel more cluttered than it would otherwise be.

But now I'm a bit more used to some of them, some of them are pretty spacious. Plenty of scope (pardon the pun) for sniping on some of them, but every map has some place for close quarters combat as well.

One thing I have noticed about pretty much all of them is that there's action on various levels - the maps aren't just spacious in places, some of them are high. It adds another dimension to the action.

Whereas there isn't a map where you cannot find any cover at all, there's no equivalent to Nuketown either thank god!

The best thing I have noticed is that team players are rewarded far better and fairer than before. You might have stats of 0 kills 0 assists and 10 deaths, but if you've been running around capturing flags, you'll still get rewards for it helping you stack up those killstreak rewards. About bloody time.

 

[Toon Wolf]

Bloody hell man, do you work for EA? :icon_lol:

Multiplayer excellent so far. A few new features but nothing groundbreaking. It is exactly what I expected it to be. Which suits me.

The single player is also what I expected - sadly. Ah well - not like I bought it for the campaign mode.

Ha! I wish I worked for EA, maybe then I wouldn't be so skint come the end of the month! Anyway, as someone who has played both CoD and BF fairly extensively, I think I'm in a position to compare the 2, it's not like I've only payed one of them and am what you'd call a 'fanboy'! And having played them both, I can say without bias, that BF is MASSIVELY better. CoD is generally about who has the fastest reactions. That's it. Each version of the game is a rehash of the last. BF has more depth, more quality, more teamplay. It beats MW hands down. I wasn't sure it would after the Beta, but having played the full game and got used to it, it is a far more satisfying game experience, and I believe that the ONLY reason more people don't switch from CoD to BF is familiarity. And I honestly think if you actually gave it a fair shot and played it for an extended period of time you'd not bother with CoD again. But I know you won't.

 

[Langers]

More can't than won't. Time or money wise - I only have room for one FPS. Whether I've chosen the right one or not is debatable but I'm more than happy with the choice I've made. Which - at the end of the day - is why we play games.

 

[Hereford Wolf]

Game director Todd Howard has revealed that will be infinite quests.
There’s a series of scripted quest lines, of course, which will follow the main plot and a number of subplots like those belonging to Skyrim’s various guilds and The Dark Brotherhood, but once you’ve completed these, Howard says that the Radiant storytelling system will continue to generate tasks. These can involve stealing gems for the thieves guild, or assassinating NPCs for the Dark Brotherhood.

“The vibe of the game is that it’s something that you can play forever,” Howard said to Wired.

Howard says that these randomly generated quests are designed to lead players into interesting parts of the world they haven’t visited before. Even major quests will have randomised components that will send players to unvisited areas.

“The world is probably the one thing that sets [Skyrim] apart from other games,” he said. “It feels really real for what it is … It’s just fun to explore.”

He adds that Bethesda have learned a lot from Fallout 3, where they challenged themselves to fill a blasted wasteland with dozens of interesting tidbits and unique areas to discover.

The infinite quests are sure to boost the projected amount of potential play time from “300 hours” to “the end of time”.

 

[Knockout Ned]

I'd rather the developers support the games properly like in the good old days ldboy: than release a whole new version at full price every few months.

Looking forward to the next BF3 maps, having played them to death on BF2 they'll be well worthy additions.

 

[loonsewolf]

Game director Todd Howard has revealed that will be infinite quests.
There’s a series of scripted quest lines, of course, which will follow the main plot and a number of subplots like those belonging to Skyrim’s various guilds and The Dark Brotherhood, but once you’ve completed these, Howard says that the Radiant storytelling system will continue to generate tasks. These can involve stealing gems for the thieves guild, or assassinating NPCs for the Dark Brotherhood.

“The vibe of the game is that it’s something that you can play forever,” Howard said to Wired.

Howard says that these randomly generated quests are designed to lead players into interesting parts of the world they haven’t visited before. Even major quests will have randomised components that will send players to unvisited areas.

“The world is probably the one thing that sets [Skyrim] apart from other games,” he said. “It feels really real for what it is … It’s just fun to explore.”

He adds that Bethesda have learned a lot from Fallout 3, where they challenged themselves to fill a blasted wasteland with dozens of interesting tidbits and unique areas to discover.

The infinite quests are sure to boost the projected amount of potential play time from “300 hours” to “the end of time”.

Awesome. Unfortunately I didn't know you need Steam to install Skyrim, FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Psychowolf]

Best viewed in full screen. It is us right?. A little old maybe but who else can it be?.



As for Skyrim being steam only. I also did not know this. Imagine my excitement as I get in, find that Skyrim has arrived. Bouncing off the walls for 5 mins only to get kicked in the balls by Steam. Now I have to wait until midnight where 20million people will simultaneously download that last 1% of the game files, then have to wait for it to decrypt before finally downloading the day 1 patch. This took me over an hour to do for both Portal 2 and Deus Ex. I love Steam on all but launch day when the entire steam network gets battered and you end up with "suspended" downloads and "servers are too busy" messages. So while I have it, I'm pretty sure I won't be playing it until tomorrow.

 

[Hereford Wolf]

Best viewed in full screen. It is us right?. A little old maybe but who else can it be?.


As for Skyrim being steam only. I also did not know this. Imagine my excitement as I get in, find that Skyrim has arrived. Bouncing off the walls for 5 mins only to get kicked in the balls by Steam. Now I have to wait until midnight where 20million people will simultaneously download that last 1% of the game files, then have to wait for it to decrypt before finally downloading the day 1 patch. This took me over an hour to do for both Portal 2 and Deus Ex. I love Steam on all but launch day when the entire steam network gets battered and you end up with "suspended" downloads and "servers are too busy" messages. So while I have it, I'm pretty sure I won't be playing it until tomorrow.

Not bothered about Steam at all. I've waited 5 years for this game. A few more hours makes no difference.

I put the disk in my PC at 8 o'clock this morning and was playing the game by 8:15.

No hassle. No worries. Easy-peasy.

 

[Langers]

MW3 multiplayer is - on the whole - ace.

The more I play the maps, the more impressed I am with them. All have areas suited for close quarters combat, but most also have a spot where you can do some sniping should you be that way inclined. They're meticulously designed - something I think is improving with each title they release.

A few things that piss me off - the scoreboards in team objective games don't show how many captures/defends/bombs planted etc each player has, merely kills/deaths/assists which is annoying because you can't see who the selfish wankers are who never attempt to help the team. Daft not to include those stats as the matches are in progress.

The in-game currency is gone now, but there are LOADS of things to unlock with each level. Basically, each weapon has 31 levels and it'll take a hell of a lot to reach that level. Also, you can't just buy whatever attachment you want - you have to reach a certain rank to unlock attachments. There are also different perks to each weapon, so the combinations of attachment/perk/level etc are vast. And that's just for each weapon - of which there are loads.

Oh yes - Kill Confirmed. It's an ace mode and a welcome addition to the online aspect. When someone is killed, they drop a dog tag, but the score will only count if someone then picks up that dog tag. So if you're a camping sniper, you won't get many kills for your team unless you've got a mate picking up the dogtags for you, so it makes a lot more sense to 'run and gun' rather than snipe. Camping is pointless in this game type. You can also pick up tags from your fallen allies before the enemy confirm the kill, which denies the kill. It's great fun.

Really enjoying it - nothing groundbreakingly new from previous titles, but I'd argue it's got rid of some seriously annoying issues that blighted MW2.

 

[Langers]

Game director Todd Howard has revealed that will be infinite quests.
There’s a series of scripted quest lines, of course, which will follow the main plot and a number of subplots like those belonging to Skyrim’s various guilds and The Dark Brotherhood, but once you’ve completed these, Howard says that the Radiant storytelling system will continue to generate tasks. These can involve stealing gems for the thieves guild, or assassinating NPCs for the Dark Brotherhood.

“The vibe of the game is that it’s something that you can play forever,” Howard said to Wired.

Howard says that these randomly generated quests are designed to lead players into interesting parts of the world they haven’t visited before. Even major quests will have randomised components that will send players to unvisited areas.

“The world is probably the one thing that sets [Skyrim] apart from other games,” he said. “It feels really real for what it is … It’s just fun to explore.”

He adds that Bethesda have learned a lot from Fallout 3, where they challenged themselves to fill a blasted wasteland with dozens of interesting tidbits and unique areas to discover.

The infinite quests are sure to boost the projected amount of potential play time from “300 hours” to “the end of time”.

I've seen some reviews for Skyrim, and I really, really, really, really want to like it. I think a major problem I had with Oblivion was the combat system which absolutely stank. It never felt like you were actually hitting anyone, and I found it really clunky.

But such a world with dragons, spells and all that shit should really appeal to me, but I just couldn't master the combat at all.

Let us know what this is like HW, having to stop playing Oblivion is one of my biggest regrets in gaming but I've still maintained an interest in Skyrim.

 

[Toon Wolf]

Combat system has supposedly been much changed and improved, LW. I think Skyrim basically looks like 'Game of Thrones: The Game' with a few more beasts and creatures thown in. I want it, but I can't afford it, yet.

 

[Langers]

Combat system has supposedly been much changed and improved, LW. I think Skyrim basically looks like 'Game of Thrones: The Game' with a few more beasts and creatures thown in. I want it, but I can't afford it, yet.

I have read 'slightly improved' from a number of sources - maybe some folks on here could report?

The bit I've bolded is exactly why I really want to like it.

 

[Hereford Wolf]

I have to tell you that Skyrim is fantastic. The combat has definitely improved from Oblivion - although don't expect it to be like a FPS! (Bows and magic...great combination).

In fact, everything has improved from Oblivion. The game is massive (a lot of similarities to Fallout 3...but just bigger and better).

I have now played for about 20 hours. I've not left the first town and I've explored about 2% of the map. I've also got about 45 quests to complete. I just love it!

This game will last me for years - and no doubt there will be DLC to follow.

I highly. highly recommend it.


http://www.metacritic.com/search/all/skyrim/results

http://www.gamearena.com.au/xbox360/games/title/the-eldar-scrolls-v-skyrim/reviews.php?id=5107081

 

[loonsewolf]

I have to tell you that Skyrim is fantastic. The combat has definitely improved from Oblivion - although don't expect it to be like a FPS! (Bows and magic...great combination).

In fact, everything has improved from Oblivion. The game is massive (a lot of similarities to Fallout 3...but just bigger and better).

I have now played for about 20 hours. I've not left the first town and I've explored about 2% of the map. I've also got about 45 quests to complete. I just love it!

This game will last me for years - and no doubt there will be DLC to follow.

I highly. highly recommend it.


http://www.metacritic.com/search/all/skyrim/results

http://www.gamearena.com.au/xbox360/games/title/the-eldar-scrolls-v-skyrim/reviews.php?id=5107081

Don't taunt me!

 

[Langers]

Eh? TWENTY hours in the first town exploring just 2% of the map?!

How the hell is that possible? Do you know how many discs it takes for the xbox version? I'm presuming it's more than 1.

As for the combat - I just wish that aspect was more like Fable. I did find myself avoiding combat in Oblivion simply because I was so utterly useless at it. There came to a point where I actually couldn't go any further, such was the plotline and the necessity to fight people. Maybe I'm just a coward?

Are you able to just go around doing random quests, exploring things etc making you level up so it's actually impossible to screw up the combat sections?

 

[Hereford Wolf]

Are you able to just go around doing random quests, exploring things etc making you level up so it's actually impossible to screw up the combat sections?

Oh yes....100's of them.

Just be a Mage/Archer Langdale - no combat problems then.

 

[nimrod]

Oh yes....100's of them.

Just be a Mage/Archer Langdale - no combat problems then.

just checkin in from hols and not playin skyrim is the only thing I'm jealous about.

what's the travel system like? Any usual magic upgrades by class ( eg darkelf?) as I only play as a battlemage (of sorts)?

 

[Hereford Wolf]

Fast Travel once you've discovered a location.
Horse and cart takes you to other locations for a fee.
Horses for hire or buy.

Yes - each race still has it's stats so that you can play as you like. Having said that it's a lot more flexible now. If you want to cast spells whilst wearing heavy armour then you can.
If you want to change from a tank to a mage/thief halfway through the game then you can.