What game are you wasting time on?

[Excidium]

It is an RPG because you talk to people and manage inventory

 

[VioletShadow]

It is an RPG because you talk to people and manage inventory

 

[DalekFlay]

It's not even a hybrid.

Well it's certainly not a straight-up shooter. At some point arguing genre lines is just ridiculous semantics.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

does defining where to categorise a game make it more or less enjoyable?

 

[Metro]

It's not even a hybrid.

Well it's certainly not a straight-up shooter. At some point arguing genre lines is just ridiculous semantics.

Actually it is a straight up shooter. Just non-linear.

 

[Gurkog]

I would categorize STALKER as being of the "Awesome" genre. This genre includes all great games, and allows me to classify them without engaging in raging autist/sperg debates over inconsequential semantics.

 

[DalekFlay]

Actually it is a straight up shooter. Just non-linear.

There's a lot more that separates STALKER from a typical shooter than non-linearity. There's no real solution for us to find though because genres have been blurred to the point of near meaninglessness.

 

[Minttunator]

I would categorize STALKER as being of the "Awesome" genre. This genre includes all great games, and allows me to classify them without engaging in raging autist/sperg debates over inconsequential semantics.

I heartily approve of your classification system!

 

[Cool name]

I did just finish Chaos in Deponia a few hours ago. And it was bloody awesome, it was.

There were some really cool puzzles, and some pretty ingenious ones as well. The puzzle to enter the first rebel hideout was just, like... Nah, they couldn't have done THAT! Oh, yes they did. It was sooooo cool. And any game that has a puzzle in which you have to get cat food and the solution involves...

Spoiler

... getting some baby dolphins to jump through a ring of fire and into the kitchen...

... or a puzzle where you have to deal with a guy cockblocking one of your friends and involves...

Spoiler

... getting the guy comically eaten alive by crabs...

... and makes you go, like, giggleGIGGLEgiggleGIGGLEgiggle instead of, say, :horror: is awesome. Actually, that's a good way to describe the game: giggleGIGGLEgiggleGIGGLEgiggle, this is just SO WRONG yet giggleGIGGLEgiggleGIGGLEgiggle, I can't believe this shit I am trying to pull but giggleGIGGLEgiggleGIGGLEgiggle, I feel so bad but giggleGIGGLEgiggleGIGGLEgiggle, this is so bleeping sick but giggleGIGGLEgiggleGIGGLEgiggle. One moment you are doing completely terrible but hilarious, the next you are doing something completely stupid but hilarious, and yet they manage to make some nice DRAMA at the end of it all. Kind of like they did in the first one, just with much more shit that should be :horror: yet still manages to be LOL.

Anyway, Rufus does get a lot of flak from the adventure community but he is by far one of my favorite adventure game protagonists like, ever. He is, like, one hundred percent loveable and huggable and cute. Or, say, at least he will be as soon as he takes a shower and washes his clothes. After having to deal with April 'whineWHINEwhineWHINEwhine' Ryan and the like it is just SO AWESOME to have a main character that isn't going whineWHINEwhineWHINEwhine about having FUN, because I am not playing a game to help some retard deal with her issues but to have FUN. When I want issues, well, I have quite a backlog of my own to deal with. Rufus doesn't give a shit, he REJOICES on the chaos and the mischief and the, uhm, explosions. And that's fine, because you aren't having FUN if you don't leave behind a crater. And at least he is not some gigantic hypocrite like all those other adventure game protagonists who steal from people and destroy private property and con people and shit while still trying to convince us how much of a hero they are. He's an asshole, and he rejoices on being an asshole, yet he always does the right thingie when it comes to Goal.

Also, platypuses! And Spunky Goal is awesome.

The last one can't come soon enough.

And with this game and the previous one there is no way I am going to be able to watch Elysium and not laugh the entire way through.

 

[spekkio]

Witch, please.



Enough of the adventure games, play something from a less shitty genre I would be at least slightly interested in.

 

[Cool name]

Like, what?

Maybe I'll get the latest Sims 3 expansion and make a no initial money + homeless + you can only get money by mooching doods + no locked interactions + no alchemy + the challenge ends when you have destroyed every single couple in town playthrough as a mermaid.

I never get bored of homewrecker playthroughs.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

Note I said hybrid. STALKER is not an RPG.

It's not even a hybrid.

It fits every criteria for being an RPG, just twisted to fit the setting. The three things that make an RPG an RPG are swords, elves and magic. STALKER definitely falls short a bit on the swords front, but hey, at least it has knives. Elves? The various mutants can stand in for them; failing that, Freedom are dirty peace-loving hippies like elves. As for magic, it has that in the bag.

Thus, STALKER is a near-perfect RPG.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Going back to Prince of Qin after quite a few years. Damn thing is EXACTLY how I remember it.
Lousy directions from NPCs, awkward dialogues, occassional pathfinding bugs, and frequent crashes during area transitions.

Damn I love this game.

 

[Cool name]

So I went back to TLJ while I waited for STO's client to download so I can go back to STO and claim the free ship when they release it. Whatever.

The point is, I get to Roper Clacks or whatever he is called and I have to challenge him to a duel or something. My magickal witchy powers kick in (just nod) so I open the inventory, pick a completely random item, and give it to him. It was a calculator. So I defeat him in a duel of, uhm, really basic maths and then he uses magick to steal the calculator from me and, uhm... The calculator eats him?

I... I don't get it. I guess I did miss a hint or something? What the fuck did just happen? Is this like Arcanum were Magick and Science kill each other or something? :/

 

[nomask7]

The point is, I get to Roper Clacks or whatever he is called and I have to challenge him to a duel or something. My magickal witchy powers kick in (just nod) so I open the inventory, pick a completely random item, and give it to him. It was a calculator. So I defeat him in a duel

Hah, that's nothing, young witch. The first time I played Daggerfall a few years ago, I found the King of Worms so easily it was like I was possessed to take the most direct route to him thru the dungeon. Never had to backtrack and I don't recall encountering a single enemy although I think there MUST have been a few.

Then there have been known to be cases where I couldn't advance in some simple game due to not knowing WTF or walking around in circles like a retard.

Wild mages FTW.

 

[Wulfstand]

Volgarr the Viking. So gud.

 

[Heresiarch]

Dark Souls, pyromancer build.

Installing GOG Arcanum (bought with 1.9 euros) and gonna replay it soon, while hoping my memories of the game is sufficiently waned. Too bad all those awesome plot twists seem to still hang strongly in my brain.

 

[iqzulk]

Marathon 2: Durandal on Total Carnage = DONE. Tl;dr incoming!

Spoiler

Whew! What a nice end bossfight (was surprised it was there at all considering that the first game didn't have one) - tight, dynamic and really challenging, almost on par with that dual stone gargoyle bossfight from Blood. And what an awesome epilogue, which really, really does sum up almost all of the unresolved plot threads really nicely (and with the main punch coming in the very last three sentences!).

Overall, this game is in many respects not a proper story-driven FPS but very much rather proto-story-driven FPS. It's a really dated game: in contrast to Pathways into Darkness, which provides a viable example of how you could design and structure an FPS game - an unusual FPS game, but still - even today, as a kind of "fantastical situation simulation game", with it being perfectly playable and every and each gamedesigning decision extremely transparent and understandable; Marathon is very much rather a weird and experimental attempt to do the things its own unique way (for another example of "doing the things its own way", even if entirely different from Marathon, think HeXen 1), which does hold a significant value as a historical curiosity, but which didn't effectively influence FPS gamedesign in any significant ways and which probably won't be replicated, like, ever again. Which is, frankly, not such a bad thing.

Marathon (1 and 2 both) is a weird game. The strong story-driven aspect sits next to the highly abstract Doom-style level-design with next to zero environmental storytelling to speak of. The "it's EXTRA not about you" attitude of the "big" story which is told via the terminals adjoins the way the levels are laid out, with countless traps, both enemy traps and environmental - which are there specifically to fuck you (yes, you personally) up. The weapon selection is really weird and the combat itself - really static (with any ground notch there fucking up your movement due to low-grav; with a lot of enemies being real damage sponges in regards to the most frequently used weapons in your arsenal; with all the SUDDEN traps "SUDDENLY THOUSANDS OF S'PHT EVERYWHERE! OH-OH, YOU ARE FUCKED!"-style; with really distracting muzzle flashes and weapon animations which make it increasingly difficult to score enemies while moving; with kinda slow - in regard to projectile speed and even while running - turning and strafing, which makes evading enemy projectiles much more attention-consuming, than, say, in DOOM; and, overall, the combat just doesn't flow the way it flows, say, in DOOM - maybe due to different inertia implementation and maybe due to aforementioned issues) to the point of the first thought after a tough fight being not "Whew, that was awesome!" but rather "Whew, I can't believe I did it! And with only half a health bar lost! I need to backtrack half a level and save!". The whole finite clips shtick - with the inability to manually change the damned clips, which results in shooting the walls on every occasion you have the last bullet or two in the clip. The idea of interaction with the environment as constant countless backtracking to health stations and save points, punching the countless levers and long swims underwater (with the only thing you can use there being your pathetically weak punch, and with oxy-dispensers frequently being several levels apart). And there are those constant weird pacing shifts between the moments when you have the free access to the health dispenser and a save point (and, thus, effectively, infinite health - by the way, I get the impression that this whole "infinite health" thing, in addition to being a modified leftover from Pathways into Darkness, is kinda like Bungie's attempt to create story-driven cinematographic experience of sorts, think "Prey") - basically, an "I'm okay!" state - and the moments where you DON'T have free access to either of those - basically, a "Now I'm really fucked!" state.

The numerous active plot agents are there along with a near complete lack of player's agency, up to the point where it's explicitly stated that you are just a toy in the hands of the powers that be. Yes, without your efforts, some of the crucial plot points just wouldn't turn out the right way, but still, in regards to the big plot, you are just an observer. You are hectically teleported between the places you are really needed in (with a lot of levels being just fillers), but almost none of it feels like your, yours truly, personal achievement. The game even goes as far as to specifically nullify any sense of achievement you could have from completion two best and most memorable levels from the first game - G4 Sunbathing (underplayed in the very end of the level) and Pfhor Your Eyes Only (underplayed in a really smart manner in the second game) just to make it EXTRA clear that IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU (which is instantly contradicted with that "levels-built-specifically-to-fuck-you-up" thing). The way the plot is laid out, via several terminal screens at a time, is too minimalistic, with some of the important story agents only appearing on a handful of terminals (Tycho being the worst offender in that regard), with simply not nearly enough information about the specific way some of the most crucial plot points actually play out. It's very much rather "This1 happens. That1 happens. This2 happens. That2 happens." with barely enough information to fill some of the blanks (thus, you can't calculate and you can just observe, hence the observer thing above), rather than a rigid structured set of causes and consequences. This backfires in a way that the story kinda feels somewhat lacking in structure (you are, like, in a sort of information vacuum where anything could happen plot-wise specifically because of the lack of concrete information about the way the things truly work) and leaning heavily towards "OMYGOD Durandal is so magically awesome and calculating" in both games. There are also a lot of filler levels in both games that don't add anything to the story (which is acknowledged and even specifically averted on a couple of occasions in a really smart way).

There isn't anything wrong with such a way to lay out the story, mind you! Moreover, the best moments of both games are about the situation being NOT about you and EXTRA out of your control. The problems are, as I mentioned above, trap-based abstract level-design which IS about you specifically more than anything (with exceptions being aforementioned G4 Sunbathing and Pfhor Your Eyes Only from the first game; or that level from the second game - Come And Take Your Medicine - where you have this giant military base where you only need to take a short, specifically laid out for you, route, punch some circuits and return via that exact route; there is, however, a huge military base, choke-full of enemies, that you CAN explore at your pace if you feel up to it; there is absolutely no plot reason for you to actually do that - but you just CAN, it's simply THERE), too much of the extensive emphasis on Durandal being awesome and calculating, and too little of some other important agents. Overall it just feels like some kind of weird and not fully realized mix that does some things well and some others - not so much.

As for the levels. The layouts themselves are really good and extremely memorable and are easily on par with, say DooM (1st and 2nd for 1st and 2nd Marathon respectively) in terms of actual layout quality. They really do look like an ass with filtering and retexturing from AlephOne, but the original versions in their original resolutions look really decent for its time. And there is also some real nice situational variety in the second Marathon specifically - MUCH better than in the first one. Like, all the levels are REALLY different, and there is really nice enemy variety, with nice enemy ranks rotation (so that I often caught myself thinking "Wow! Haven't seen THOSE guys for, like, really long time!"). Moreover, in contrast to the first Marathon, which is basically the same gray cement-and-steel walls for the majority of game, the second one also has some really nice VISUAL variety with vistas and geographies replacing one another constantly (and L'howon levels having the nicest and occasionally really relaxing proto-Unreal ambiance). I wouldn't mind some puzzles (the communicating vessels "puzzles" from the second game are too simplistic and monotonous and the staircase puzzle from the first game is just a horrendous abomination), but it's still very nice. Moreover still, the levels really feel like a part of a connected whole thanks to the game being as much about LEVEL-progression as about SAVE-POINT-progression, HEALTH-DISPENCER-progression and AIR-DISPENCER-progression (with the latter three rarely correlating with the first one or with one another) - and really do kinda flow one into another.

About the believability and "not about you" factor, the two games differ a lot. First of all, the majority of Marathon 1 is taking place on a human colonist ship - and the abstract level-design simply doesn't work with the places where actual human beings are kinda supposed to live and operate. At all. From this regard, the decision of Marathon 2 to move full-scale-alien (why is it called Marathon again? I mean, the ship itself is, like, mentioned once or twice over the course of entire game) is as justified as it gets - and helps the believability TREMENDOUSLY. On the other hand Marathon 2 blatantly overuses enemy teleportation which makes the "WE GUNNA FUCK YOU UP REAL UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL" thing even worse than in the first game - and really goes criss-cross with that "not about you" thing the story is trying to express.

And, by the way, the guns sounds in M2 are also much better than in the first game, and guns/enemies redesigns are much better as well, and I just love how the final boss is just a

Spoiler

usual and already really familiar monster, just in very unusual circumstances

, and having much more responsive controls with sort of normal gravity for at least a half of the game is really, really, nice, and...

And overall Marathon 2 is still a dated historical artifact of largely theoretical value showing an important historical example of how story-driven environment-interaction games COULD and HAVE been done. Despite all the level-layouts glory, fitting fusion of abstract level geometry with purely alien designs, all the nice ambiance and pretty colors (and GOD FORBID you to turn on that filtration or transparent liquids!) and sound-design, all the situational variety and all the pretty neat (considering the epilogue) two-part story (which isn't IN ANY CONCEIVABLE WAY "teh best story evar written!", mind you). It's a really weird game based on even more weird combat with some yet even more weird gamedesigning choices. Yes, it's certainly different - and it truly does its own thing - similarly (and radically different!) to how HeXen 1 or, say, Rise of the Triad (from what I've heard about it, never payed that game myself) did their own things. But, in the end, it's just an evolutionary dead end. As simple as that.

Still, I'd really advise anyone who's interested in 90's FPS games to try at least Marathon 2: Durandal out (first Marathon isn't really worth it - and you might want to use, say, youtube playthrough + all the terminal texts from here instead) - because it's really a different game with a lot of aspects truly well done (and a lot of weird or even up to truly infuriating ones) that really does its own experimental thing, and because it's really an example of how things theoretically COULD turn out for the 90's FPS and story/environment-driven FPS games. You really should play it if you enjoy the games of that era.

But for me personally, Marathon is a C grade game and Marathon 2: Durandal - a B- one (maybe, somehow, B - but no, doubt it).

Also, I've seen the canonical ending to the series as far as I'm concerned - so I won't be playing Infinity (which was created purely as afterthought because Bungie needed something to be bundled with Forge, AFAIK) any time soon, so that I don't spoil the overall impression.

EDIT: I now believe that the main problem with Marathon1&2's story is it being rather infantile "kewl an' awshum an' SMARTER THAN YOU ARE an' OMG SO EDGY" kind of fiction with wisecracking Durandal being an obvious Greg Kirkpatrick's MarySue kind of character. I also think that Pathways into Darkness was a much better game specifically because Jason Jones followed Ultima Underworld's (which obviously was the main source of inspiration) suit pretty closely (although that doesn't explain the combat being this good), while in Marathon his team decided to go full experimental, losing any concrete "landmarks" to rely upon in the process.

EDIT2: Also, the title, "Marathon 2: Durandal" really ticks me off. Like, OK, the title kinda implies that the whole game, in its entirety, is either about Marathon or about Durandal, right? And since Marathon is, like, briefly mentioned two or three times over the course of the entire game, it's kinda obvious, that the game is all about Durandal. He/It is like a central figure, the crucial element, etc., right? He/It is bound to have some symbolic significance, to kinda represent or hint upon the entire meaning of the game. That character is bound to mean something, right? Except that there isn't any character development whatsoever. First, the Durandal has his usual troll attitude, then he kinda sucks it down and is kinda defeated - and then, after some time, he magically reemerges and sends all the enemies blazing, while achieving with our help all of his plans. The entire meaning behind Durandal's ark is just how ZOMG AWSHUM Durandal is. And there just isn't any other meaning. The entire central, Durandal's, story is about just how awesome that character is. And, considering the title issue, it makes it the meaning of the entire game. ENTIRE GAME WAS CREATED FOR NO OTHER PURPOSE THEN TO SHOW JUST HOW ZOMG AWSHUM DURANDAL IS. OK, there is some meaning, I was talking about it earlier, the "It's not about you" shtick. And Durandal's name in title could kind of represent that "not about you" flavor. Still, if it's not about me, who is it about? Durandal. And Durandal's ark is him being AWESOME, while we suck it down with all the "not about you!" reminders.
That's some big fat Mary Sue stuff if I ever saw one. The whole game circlejerking one non-playable character not only over the course of the game, but also in the title itself? Jeez.

 

[iqzulk]

Marathon 2: Durandal

No screenshots?

How about... some dual-wielding shotguns?

Spoiler

Oh, and don't mind the lava thing, is' much lighter on the eyes when in motion, somehow.

Also, another one

Spoiler

And this is how the first one looked:

Spoiler

 

[kaizoku]

Just finished this bastard

How I feel right now

Spoiler

 

[Sranchammer]

 

[spekkio]

Finished Mirror's Edge. Highly recommended.

Pros:
- original concept (parkour), good (but not perfect) execution,
- beautiful graphics, nice music,
- technically proficient (stable, no performance problems),
- adds the need for speed of the momentum to the platforming genre (not really + Sonic did it before, but still),
- short-range combat (against enemies with regular guns),
- runner's vision, when it works,
- working and not-infuriating auto-save system in game based on precision jumps and timed (pop a mole at specific time) combat,
- light non-linearity (multiple solutions to some obstacles),
- DEM FEELS:
when you pull out a "new" move - something not covered in the tutorial / you thought impossible,
when you manage to deal with 10 armed enemies without taking a sweat,
when you learn how to deal with the "pursuing cops", who look damn invincible at first,
- the game did not sell so the franchise died before EA was able to rape it to the ground.

Cons:
- too EXTREME at times - I would prefer something less cool (jumping from one building to another while being shot at by 3 snipers and a fucking helicopter), and more realistic (actual fucking parkour),
- melee combat is way too random, even when you learn how to do it right,
- long-range encounters (against snipers) are highly irritating and extremely unrealistic,
- combat as a whole depends too much on disarming the first target (using slow-mo) and killing next targets using weapons taken from previous ones,
- popamole "health" mechanics (trying to deal with the armed enemies ASAP is not a good idea - taking it slow and staying in cover till your HP regenerates is much easier),
- runner's vision, when it doesn't work (showing some weird-ass routes, instead of simpler ones),
- some stupid auto-save positions (when you have to repeat some stupid action like opening doors after every death),
- the boss-battle against the mysterious sniper - Jesus F. Christ - perfect moment to teach the player how to do the melee combat right,
- the story is weak as hell and doesn't make much sense (you spend an entire mission trying to rescue your sis from the police convoy only to lose her again a moment later by the power of the FMV...),
- three strong female characters and no lesbian undertones - clearly a wasted opportunity here...

tl;dr



Next target: Wind Waker. Let's witness the decline of the Zelda series firsthand...

 

[LundB]

- the game did not sell so the franchise died before EA was able to rape it to the ground.

Don't lose fear hope yet!

Although Mirror's Edge 2 will be a first-person action adventure, it "will be a different Mirror's Edge than you have seen before", according to Patrick Söderlund, executive vice president of the EA Games Label.

Speaking to GameReactor, Söderlund explained why fans had to wait so long for the much-requested sequel to be revealed.

"It's taken this long because we wanted to get to the right concept and the right idea," he said. "And Sara Jansson who is producer on it, when she pitched her idea to me and Karl-Magnus, the GM for DICE, I was frankly blown away.

"She pitched an idea that frankly could only be built on gen 4, is a stunning concept, and when she came to us we knew we had it. And yes, we've been testing ideas and we've been prototyping stuff, and I'm glad that we waited to get the right idea.

"It will be a very innovative game that people, I think, will be surprised by what we show. I'm genuinely excited by it."

EA officially announced Mirror's Edge during its E3 press conference. The title is in development at Battlefield studio DICE using its Frostbite engine. It will be released for Xbox One, PS4 and PC "when it's ready".

Following E3, EA Labels president Frank Gibeau indicated Mirror's Edge 2 will be open-world.

 

[spekkio]

^

EA "prototyping stuff"? Can't wait.

 

[DalekFlay]

Finished GTA4: The Lost and Damned last night. That story starts strong but really fades into nothing by the time it ends. I was kind of stunned how poor it was by the end, Rockstar is usually much better than that. The gameplay was good though, lots of nice combat scenarios and such.

Might have been too early to attempt a Witcher 2 replay, stuck in Flotsam and losing interest. Not sure whether I will keep going or not.

Still have NOLF and Return to Castle Wolfenstein installed as my shooters but haven't been in a shooting mood lately.

Might replay Ballad of Gay Tony, I remember really liking it.