Video Games Thread

[ancelotti]

I like the bird in Tiberium Wars, but she's definitely no stunner. Fans of House* will know her as Dr Cameron.
Was nice seeing Michael Ironside in there, too, following recent discussions about Total Recall.

Never realised that! She was alright, but definitely upstaged by Thirteen!

IIRC, Jenny McCarthy, Gemma Atkinson and Gina Carano (UFC fighter) are all in Red Alert. http://www.cncgames.com/redalert3_gals/RA3Girls.jpg - Some cast!

[Late]

Oh hell aye!

[jman]

Im suprised Harv hasnt picked it up either.. considering his bumming lover Tim Curry plays a massive part as one of the faction leaders... Im suprised he hasnt furiously masterbated all over it.. screw Red Alert.. harvs on Brown Alert...   


  Erm OK, back to the hot ladies... I believe Holly Valence is in it too  only a very minor role though... if Red Alert 3 was an FPS - it'd of sold a shit load with the awesome cutscenes!!

Damn I want to play that game again now!!  But have just ordered NHL 13 for next week.. so maybe I wont get a chance.

Edit : Just won Dirt 3 on ebay too for £7.50 all in.. have got two pretty good bargains on ebay this week.. unusual!

[harv]

I watched Alice, a two-part miniseries, with Tim Curry in last night as it goes. Only a bit part though, also starred Kathy Bates as the Queen of Hearts. It was quite good

[Late]

Red alert 3 received. Can't fault that service!

[harv]

Blimey, plenty of people are fapping over NSMB U now. Looks to be another Super Mario World style game...have never played the first one because of my dislike for Mario but it's certainly got people excited. Looks pretty too.

Also more news on more of the attractions in NintendoLand too, that's 7 out of 12 revealed now. The lighting in Metroid Blast looks fantastic and the game should be a blast too. Just a bit annoying that they don't have an online multiplayer component for the games, NintendoLand would have been a perfect opportunity to showcase their new online infrastructure. I know that their focus has been on asymmetric multiplayer but having a single player experience, local multiplayer experience, online multiplayer experience and a combination of local and online multiplayer experiences would be the best of all[/] worlds. They've missed a trick there imo.

[bealec]

Most reviews of the new Mario have said its shit. It's just about collecting as many coins as possible....wow innovative.

[harv]

That's not the one I'm talking about

[bealec]

Oh so they're bringing out another "New" Mario? The innovative part of my comment still stands.

[harv]

Well there's only so much you can do with 2D platformers, if they innovate it too much it won't be a 2D Mario game. The advantage that the 2D and 3D Mario games have over other 2D and 3D platformers is the level design. You won't find any better.

And people keep on buying them in droves so they must be doing something right.

[jman]

Started 'Enslaved : Odyssey To The West' at the weekend.. completely different game to what I was expecting.

I was expecting an RPG, but its more of an action/adventure platformer with RPG elements in it... its all linear though, so no open world and a set path to follow with set enemies to destroy.  The story is simple but great and the relationship between the two main characters really add to it.  It runs off Unreal Engine 3, so the graphics and enivronments are quite nice and the story, graphics and voice overs are really the stand-out elements of the game.

If I had to describe the gameplay.. its like a very simplistic Prince of Persia, there are acrobatic sections - although they dont really require any skill at all compared to PoP... and the combat is very akin to PoP.. nice and simple.. X for light attack, Y for heavy attack.  As you progress through the game though, it becomes apparent that the gameplay doesnt quite match up with the other ambitions of Enslaved.. the game is mainly about getting from point A to point B and killing everything on the way.. there are boss battles and technical scenarios where you have to figure out what to do... and these do break up the gameplay somewhat.. but not enough.. after 6-7 hours playing Im beginning to get annoyed and bored of it all.. its the story thats definitely keeping me going.

Theres a few other bugbears with the game.. the camera is a tiny bit suspect at times (most of the time its ok).. and the controls definitely seem to have some kind of lag to them (which can make some battles quite annoying)... I also managed to fall through the floor of the game world at one point which meant starting the checkpoint again.. the checkpoint (auto)saves are often enough so that you never have to replay massive sections though.. so it wasnt a big issue.

For a fiver.. Im glad I got this game though, would recommend it to anyone for that price.. and definitely to anyone that liked PoP.  Will probably end up finishing it this week and will give it a score then.. at the moment its a solid 7.

[Late]

Played that just over a year ago. Way too linear but, as you say, it's playable and it tells a decent yarn. For sub-£10 it's definitely worth it.


Still enjoying Lost Odyssey - I'm now on disk two of four. I gave up watching the boring dream sequences (optional/collectable) and I'm kinda missing the usual JRPG grinding. It's possible on this, but there's no "world map" to roam/explore so you're usually pushed to the next objective. To grind you've effectively got to go backwards a bit - there's no "I'll head toward my next objective but I'll take my sweet time, explore a bit, level up a bit..."

It's got a compelling story, well-balanced characters, and turn-based combat (which of curse I love). It's perhaps clichéd but but a couple of melee/tanks in the front and a couple of magicians in the back is always a winner of course. And I love the way the immortals can learn skills from others.
The graphics are definitely the weakest part of the game, but it's nearly five years old so they're forgiveable.

[jman]

Yeah the dream stuff is pants.. I skipped all that too..

Without saying too much, you'll be able to grind as much as you like without going backwards in disc 4... you dont really need to before that, although I think I did at various points... but disc 4 is the daddy.. 'da bomb... its the one where everything happens

I also loved the skill/combat/ring system.. more so than most final fantasies too!  Also the fact they called one of their characters "Ming" is just awesome lol


Edit : If you do end up finishing and enjoying Lost Odyssey.. you might want to try Blue Dragon out too.. its not as good as LO.. the story is a bit gay.. but it is another game with solid JRPG roots.. I spent a god awful time on Blue Dragon (as I 100%ed it)

[Late]

I've only gone back once so far on Lost Odyssey. Picked up some item that gives immunity to paralysis just before I encountered a big boss that likes paralysing his opponents (spooky coincidence, eh!). After failing against him a few times I went back slightly and fought a few lower beasties until one of the immortals acquired that immunity.

Will pick Blue Dragon up - you're the second person to recommend it to me this week. No rush though. After Lost Odyssey I'm planning on playing C&C Red Alert 3, then Final Fantasy XIII-2, so I'll probably want to squeeze another game or two in before playing another JRPG.

I also need to play some CoD. I've never been all that good at Call of Duty (I think my K/D ratio is usually around 0.90-1.00), and I've not played Modern Warfare 3 since about a fortnight after it came out - and barely played it in those two weeks - but I'm seriously considering getting Black Ops 2, and I don't want to be too crap at it.
I did say last Nov/Dec that I'm unlikely to buy the next COD, but it sounds very good so I'm now thinking I'll probably get it (so long as it's not too far above £30...).

[jman]

Yeah well I've tried quite a few of the JRPGS on the 360... Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey are the only ones I've really truly enjoyed.. LO is by far the best..

Infinite Undiscovery, The Last Remnant and both the Final Fantasies are a bit shit to be honest...
Undecided on Star Ocean as Im yet to really play it.
Eternal Sonata is OK.. but its not turn based combat..its also a bit gay and the voice overs are annoying... I did about 5 hours before giving up a while back.. still might go back to it, but doubtful.

Would like to give Enchanted Arms a go.. dunno if anyone has played it.. its a fairly old game... its looks alright though.
Resonance of Fate sounds OK too.. although unsure about it.

Would love to play Tales of Vesperia.. but its going for crazy prices on ebay due to a limited release over here... I think you can pick it up digitally, but its still gonna set you back 20-30 odd quid