The Video Games Thread II - The Resurrection

[Toon Wolf]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/303602/news/star-wars-kinect-reveal-due-at-ms-e3-conference/

This could be the greatest, most fun game in the history of gaming ever.

But I'm convinced it will be utter wank.

You haven't been on Xbox Live for ages, mate. You ill?! I know you've had your holiday, but still...

 

[Langers]

You haven't been on Xbox Live for ages, mate. You ill?! I know you've had your holiday, but still...

Just not had time mate - and I've been on my own with the kids all day today (the better half went to Cardiff to see her friend) so I just needed to veg out in front of the box - watched the Play Off Final.

I'll be back on once I get chance!

 

[Langers]

Call of Duty: Elite has been announced.

Basically, it's a paid subscription service that gives you extremely detailed stats, extra content etc. The multiplayer experience 'as we know it' will remain free, but this extra stuff requires a fee.

I don't know what to make of this. Such geek-dom interests me, but it's been done before on Halo and that didn't cost anything extra. I think this is a worrying development, as you can guarantee they'll make a shitload of money from this - people WILL sign up for it.

The fee hasn't been announced yet, and they're going to run a free beta soon which I might apply for to see just how detailed it is, but I am very wary about spunking yet more money for something that might not be worth it. The price of the map packs shows that they're not scared to over-price CoD content.

Thoughts? Particularly Toon - I can guarantee our online lot will sign up to this.

 

[Toon Wolf]

Call of Duty: Elite has been announced.

Basically, it's a paid subscription service that gives you extremely detailed stats, extra content etc. The multiplayer experience 'as we know it' will remain free, but this extra stuff requires a fee.

I don't know what to make of this. Such geek-dom interests me, but it's been done before on Halo and that didn't cost anything extra. I think this is a worrying development, as you can guarantee they'll make a shitload of money from this - people WILL sign up for it.

The fee hasn't been announced yet, and they're going to run a free beta soon which I might apply for to see just how detailed it is, but I am very wary about spunking yet more money for something that might not be worth it. The price of the map packs shows that they're not scared to over-price CoD content.

Thoughts? Particularly Toon - I can guarantee our online lot will sign up to this.

I can guarantee I won't. I'm not a CoD fanatic, it's just a game, and there are other games that I think are more worthy of my time and money. It sounds to me like the people behind the CoD franchise have just found a new way to fleece games players and make extra cash for not much return for the gamer. The CoD games are a license to print money and they've just built themselves a new printing press. No thanks. I'll revert to Battlefield 3 I think if this is the long term plan for CoD. If what this brings is so worthwhile, it should be a standard part of the game, not some extra thing you have to shell out even more money for. As it is while most games are £39.99, Black Ops was £44.99, this sounds to me like they are sticking 2 fingers up at their fans and saying "We want more cash from you". Fuck 'em.

 

[Langers]

I agree with your sentiments - but I'm certainly going to try the beta. I do want to know what they plan to charge for this though. 1200 bloody points for 4 maps gives me the impression that they'll overcharge for this too. In which case they can go and fuck themselves.

I think a lot of people will be driven away by this. Just worrying that it WILL make money for them, and that in turn WILL encourage other developers to follow suit.

 

[Hereford Wolf]

I've just completed this mission in GTA4.

Watched another completion on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HILiCZWtyNc

This is why the game is so good...I was playing this with my own music blasting out. And it's why I love games.

 

[Langers]

I've just completed this mission in GTA4.

Watched another completion on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HILiCZWtyNc

This is why the game is so good...I was playing this with my own music blasting out. And it's why I love games.

Personally, I think GTA IV is one of the most over-hyped games of this generation. The driving sections played like a very poor driving game and the combat sections played like a very poor shooter. No faulting the content and attention to detail, and the radio stations are absolutely brilliant, but I just didn't think it played well, and the characters were very annoying and intensely unlikeable.

Not a patch on the fabulous Red Dead Redemption IMHO, but each to their own.

 

[loonsewolf]

Personally, I think GTA IV is one of the most over-hyped games of this generation. The driving sections played like a very poor driving game and the combat sections played like a very poor shooter. No faulting the content and attention to detail, and the radio stations are absolutely brilliant, but I just didn't think it played well, and the characters were very annoying and intensely unlikeable.

Not a patch on the fabulous Red Dead Redemption IMHO, but each to their own.

The thing I hate with GTA 4 is it doesn't know what it wants to be.

See Vice City and San Andreas weren't trying to be realistic, they knew the worlds were crazy. I remember pile-ups of "FBI" SUV's, killing each other trying to get to my character. It created a world in which simple fun was the most important thing, like say CoD online is. It's fun. However when I play games like Oblivion, Fallout, Mass Effect I get sucked into those worlds and this is where GTA 4 goes wrong for me. It's stuck in between those type of games.

Because of its technical superiority over its predecessors you don't encounter what I call "random crazy shit", like a car accidentally hitting another car and the passengers getting out and fighting to the death, no scripted things pure glitches in the mechanics. Maybe they're not even glitches, the programmers might have thought, that's fun why fix that?

GTA 4 takes itself a lot more seriously, it wants to absorb you into its world, the thing is it doesn't, well at least not in my case. Not like Oblivion, Mass Effect etc. do. So it's stuck there, not funny enough to handle like Vice City not serious enough to handle like Oblivion. This results in serious gameplay without the rewards for the effort you put into your character (and the game). It also results simply in a strange contrast between certain parts of the world. Like that crazy steroid guy (funny) and the Mafia boss, who I thinks supposed to be depicting a boss of the five families (serious).

It might just be me who feels this way but it made the game a bit pointless. I didn't play it for laughs, I wanted the typical gaming experience, to be sucked into a different world for a couple of hours. To be Niko, yet despite a decent storyline this fails. IMHO it betrayed what GTA stood for and we as gamers didn't get anything better in return. A decent game, by no means a great one.

 

[Toon Wolf]

Personally, I think GTA IV is one of the most over-hyped games of this generation. The driving sections played like a very poor driving game and the combat sections played like a very poor shooter. No faulting the content and attention to detail, and the radio stations are absolutely brilliant, but I just didn't think it played well, and the characters were very annoying and intensely unlikeable.

Not a patch on the fabulous Red Dead Redemption IMHO, but each to their own.

By the end of LA Noire, I thought it was a better game experience than Red Dead. Very different games, but the satisfaction I got out of playing LA Noire was greater than Red Dead. And I loved RDR. The story in LA Noire is very cinematic and immersive and you find yourself wanting to complete the investigation of each case as if they are real. Or I did at least, but maybe that's just me...

 

[Langers]

The thing I hate with GTA 4 is it doesn't know what it wants to be.

See Vice City and San Andreas weren't trying to be realistic, they knew the worlds were crazy. I remember pile-ups of "FBI" SUV's, killing each other trying to get to my character. It created a world in which simple fun was the most important thing, like say CoD online is. It's fun. However when I play games like Oblivion, Fallout, Mass Effect I get sucked into those worlds and this is where GTA 4 goes wrong for me. It's stuck in between those type of games.

Because of its technical superiority over its predecessors you don't encounter what I call "random crazy shit", like a car accidentally hitting another car and the passengers getting out and fighting to the death, no scripted things pure glitches in the mechanics. Maybe they're not even glitches, the programmers might have thought, that's fun why fix that?

GTA 4 takes itself a lot more seriously, it wants to absorb you into its world, the thing is it doesn't, well at least not in my case. Not like Oblivion, Mass Effect etc. do. So it's stuck there, not funny enough to handle like Vice City not serious enough to handle like Oblivion. This results in serious gameplay without the rewards for the effort you put into your character (and the game). It also results simply in a strange contrast between certain parts of the world. Like that crazy steroid guy (funny) and the Mafia boss, who I thinks supposed to be depicting a boss of the five families (serious).

It might just be me who feels this way but it made the game a bit pointless. I didn't play it for laughs, I wanted the typical gaming experience, to be sucked into a different world for a couple of hours. To be Niko, yet despite a decent storyline this fails. IMHO it betrayed what GTA stood for and we as gamers didn't get anything better in return. A decent game, by no means a great one.

Very good post, and I think you've got a lot of that absolutely spot on.

By the end of LA Noire, I thought it was a better game experience than Red Dead. Very different games, but the satisfaction I got out of playing LA Noire was greater than Red Dead. And I loved RDR. The story in LA Noire is very cinematic and immersive and you find yourself wanting to complete the investigation of each case as if they are real. Or I did at least, but maybe that's just me...

I'm starting to hear a lot of conflicting opinions about LA Noire - an awful lot of people didn't rate it particularly highly, yet others such as yourself rave about it. I'm going to have to play it for myself I think!

 

[Toon Wolf]

I'm starting to hear a lot of conflicting opinions about LA Noire - an awful lot of people didn't rate it particularly highly, yet others such as yourself rave about it. I'm going to have to play it for myself I think!

I think the reason you'll hear conflicting reports is that as a game it is very different to most other games around. If you accept that this is a game where the story is paramount and that the designers have used a game rather than film, TV or a book to tell that story and you can embrace that you'll enjoy it. If you see the story as an afterthought and the game is the most important thing you'll probably not like it as much. The gameplay mechanics IMO are perfectly suited to telling the story and have just the right blend of action and puzzles to help move the story along. But make no mistake, it is about telling the story. That's why it's so linear. And probably why some people don't like it.

 

[LG Wolf]

I brought LA Noire on Sunday and I'm absolutely loving it. I prefer these type of games where you can take your time and really get stuck into it, instead of aimlessly shooting at things as quickly as you can.

 

[Langers]

Not AGAIN??!

 

[Toon Wolf]

Not AGAIN??!

Oh dear. I think all of this is going to cripple Sony in the video games market. Why would you entrust your online gaming to them when they are so blatantly incompetent at looking after your internet security? I can imagine anyone contemplating buying a console now would seriously think twice about buying a PS3 unless they never planned on using it for online play.

 

[Psychowolf]

E3 starts this week. What games are people interested in learning more about?. Personally I'm hoping for plenty Skyrim info, Hitman Absolution, Battlefield 3 and the Tomb Raider reboot. There the main ones anyway. So many potentially great games coming out within next 12 months that could be on display. Have my eye also on the likes of F1 2011, Mass Effect 3 and Fifa 12. Regarding Fifa, looking forward to their new "impact engine". Mostly due to the real injury aspect of it, which will take into account stuff such as location, force, angle of contact etc to determine whether it's enough to injure a player. Something i've always wanted as I can't help but love to make stupid tackles from time to time. Hope there is plenty PC love this year from developers too. Been a bit lacking in the past couple years.

Call of Duty: Elite has been announced.

My thoughts on this pretty much are similar to whats already been said by you and Toon. I don't play CoD these days so this Elite wouldn't effect me but if it proves successful for them other devs might well follow. As you say yourself, alot of what is on offer is already available in other games such as Halo. To charge for it is just a poor way to treat the players that are making it so successful.
It also seems EA and Dice will be offering their own version of this too for Battlefield 3 called "Battlelog"

Battlefield 3 Battlelog web destination – featuring powerful social tools, feeds and detailed player stats. Battlelog also lets you manage your friends lists, squad up, create platoons, use voice chat and follow your friends’ progress in real-time, and more. Battlelog will be available for the monthly fee of (drum roll)... zero dollars. We look forward to providing more information on these features in the near future!

http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2011/06/03/bf3-goes-to-e3.aspx##

Atleast it's for a more reasonable price.

 

[Langers]

Really looking forward to seeing Battlefield 3, Mass Effect 3, Aliens: Colonial Marines (which I so hope is decent - would love a proper Aliens shooter), the Star Wars Kinect game, Uncharted 3. Oh, and I'm hoping for something on the next Assassins Creed game, as I've enjoyed Brotherhood so much.

I've been thinking a lot about this CoD Elite thing, and it might actually be the catalyst which makes me turn my back on the franchise. The other thing that's important is the quality of Battlefield 3.

 

[Psychowolf]

The latest PC Gamer magazine has a feature on the new Assassins Creed game. I've not read it yet though as I've not played brotherhood yet and don't want anything spoiling. I was halfway through AC2 when I read their Brotherhood review and in the first paragraph they managed the spoil the entire AC2 story without any spoiler warning. Hopefully Ubi release it on PC at the same time as console this time around. Aliens: Colonial Marines I'm hoping is good too. Considering Aliens has such a great setting and atmosphere around it, the game offerings have been a little poor.

 

[Langers]

Not that it would ever happen, but the game that would be a dream come true would have to be Lego: Dr Who. The thing is, there is SO much potential there, with so many characters/enemies/settings over the years, it would be absolutely epic if they gave it the Lego treatment.

But it'll never happen.

Also, I hear the RRP for FIFA 12 will be considerably higher this year - I can't see what more they can do to the title other than the subtle annual updates. It's a cracking game, and I've totally converted from PES, but might have to stop buying it EVERY year. FIFA 11 is great - I see no need to get the update. Unless there is something really quite groundbreaking that I'm yet to hear about...

Mass Effect 3 is at the top of my list for E3 details though.

 

[Langers]

And how the hell did I forget about this???!

 

[Psychowolf]

Not quite lego but did you ever try the BBC Dr who games last year (PC only)? They released some episodic adventures to coincide with the new series I believe.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/theadventuregames
Also earlier this year they announced an MMO
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/02/24/my-time-lord-doctor-who-mmo-announced/

As for the lego idea there really is a wealth of ideas and stuff that could be used for it. Unfortunately being a BBC product I don't believe they can sell the rights to EA to make such a commercial product due to it being licence funded which is why the 2 games above are both free to play.

From what I've read about fifa 12 regarding its price it should still be the same. Just alot of places will be selling different versions which will include x amount of Gold/Silver packs for the Ultimate team. HMV are offering 8 packs I think and game 15. Standard version of just the game should still be £40. Theres not really any new features added to it other than the new engine and a couple tweaks to gameplay.

Arkham City looks fantastic too. Loved Asylum. They really nailed the feeling of being Batman in that game. This should be more of the same plus added Catwoman.