Video Games Thread

[Late]

I thought I kept fairly abreast of the console gaming scene, but obviously some things pass you by without you noticing...

When did Sony announce FFX:HD? Presumably at E3?
I hear it's heading to PS3 and PSV later this year.
Sony exclusive? (If so, it's yet another thing pulling me toward Sony and away from Microsoft, but it being on ps3 doesn't mean it'd be on ps4 of course - and it's extremely unlikely I'd buy a ps3 at this stage of it's life.*)

Seriously, how the hell did I miss this?!
I loved FFX (not as much as FFVII, of course) and would love to play a HD remake of it.




*I have a lot of admiration for the ps3, and there's been some cracking deals for the console lately - so there's some temptation. But I don't fancy buying a console just as it's successor is being released.

[jman]

Yeah.. that was announced a few years ago for the PS3.. but jeez they are old.. I remember watching my flat-mate play a bit of FFX at university on the PS2.. and that really takes me back...sadly I only ever got round to playing about 2 hours of it myself...

So not really bothered about that... but when they re-make FF7, FF8 and FF9 in HD - then we'd be talking.

[harv]

Just managed to pre-order Pikmin 3 for £25 and got Injustice for £16 thanks to flubit.com.

You just paste a link of what you want to buy and they give you a better offer within 48 hours. You guys should check it out!

[harv]

Am really enjoying Darksiders 1 at the mo, so glad I carried on with fighting Tiamat, probably the most poorly designed boss fights in video game history...certainly one of the most tedious!!!

[ancelotti]

Played through TWD: 400 Days. Was only about an hour and 20 minutes long, so there really wasn't enough time to connect with any of the characters but it was still enjoyable. I'm now eagerly awaiting Season 2. I wonder if Clementine will be returning?

Yeah.. that was announced a few years ago for the PS3.. but jeez they are old.. I remember watching my flat-mate play a bit of FFX at university on the PS2.. and that really takes me back...sadly I only ever got round to playing about 2 hours of it myself...

So not really bothered about that... but when they re-make FF7, FF8 and FF9 in HD - then we'd be talking.

2 hours!  You've missed out on one of the best FF games! Probably my 3rd favourite after 7 & 8. It started to get more linear with FFX but it's still great fun. Dark Yojimbo is one of the toughest bosses I've fought in any game.

[jman]

Yeah, I wasn't going to buy a PS2 just for that game though.. I did notice the linearity of it.. I was probably about 2-4 hours in tbh.. got to the first splash tournament?? the swimming/water polo game.. which was pretty good.. but didn't come close to the mini games of 7,8 or 9.  I remember the main character being quite annoying too.  But surely Emerald/Ruby weapon in FF7 have to be two of the toughest FF bosses ever ?


Started a demolition job on my 360 games this weekend.. 16 up on ebay, am expecting over £100 for them as I have about 4-5 titles which should fetch over £10 on their own.  I'll start selling all my Kinect and Guitar Hero stuff in a month then.. after that I'll have a tricky decision as to which games to keep.  At the moment, all the Halo/Gears games are being kept.. I think Lost Odyssey and The Orange Box will survive the chop too - everytime I've done a fire sale, I ask myself, am I likely to play Lost Odyssey again - the answers no.. but I always find it hard to put it on the selling pile - probably my favourite "non-mainstream" title of this gen... was a bit of a wrench to get rid of Resonance of Fate too - I'm almost undecided if I want to keep it on ebay now.. 

[harv]

Have been thinking about getting myself a Rocksmith cable for my PC and downloading a pirate copy but have just seen a legit, new and sealed copy with the cable from some bloke in Poland cheaper than you can get the cable separately so that's a bargain! Cost me £25, will obviously rip off the DLC though, there's a shitload of it available on TPB.

It's basically Guitar Hero using a real guitar which as well as being an entertaining game also teaches and improves guitar techniques. Nice

[jman]

Been thinking about it since yesterday.. top 5 console games you've owned this gen... what's yours.. ?

Obviously mine are all on the 360... since I havent got a PS3, and only owned a Wii for a year....but it would go something like this (in no particular order) :

Halo 3
Lost Odyssey
The Orange Box
Skyrim
Gears of War

Honourable Mentions
GTA 4
Condemned
Dead Rising
Bioshock
Fallout 3

[harv]

Fallout 3
Super Mario Galaxy
Pro Evo Wii
Guitar Hero
Orange Box

Very difficult!!!

[ancelotti]

Red Dead Redemption
The Last of Us
Skyrim
Lost Odyssey
L.A Noire

[Late]

Can pretty easily pick six outstanding titles, but narrowing it down from six to five is bloody difficult!
Was careful not to read either of the two lists posted before me*, so as not to skew my thought process. Impressive, then, that all three of us have Orange Box in our lists.
I'm also surprised to see that most of the games in my list are from the first half of the current gen.

COD: World At War. Fun (but bloody difficult) campaign, with some truly great maps for the multiplayer. Most COD fans would probably argue COD4:MW was the pinnacle, but I was a bit late to COD so only played MW for a few weeks. CoD:WaW was the first COD I properly got into. And of course it introduced us to Nazi Zombies mode, which was (and still is) awesome.

Orange Box. Wasn't sure whether this box set counted as a game, but tbh I'd have Portal 1 on the list even without the rest of the set - and if you've got a box set of games (available considerably cheaper than a normal retail game) where Half Life and Team Fortress are bonuses then you're doing something right!

Skyrim. I was so wary of getting Skyrim, having played it's predecessor "Oblivion" and not being able to get into it at all. Fortunately Gamestation ran a fantastic offer and I took a plunge, picking up a game I wasn't sure about for £20 a few weeks after it came out - and that gamble played off. A beautifully crafted world, containing a mind-blowing number of quests, and so easy/intuitive to get into.

Crackdown. Again, not the biggest of titles - but one of the very few times I've enjoyed hunting for collectibles in a sandbox game. I loved that you started off strong and agile, but the more collectibles you got the more super-human you became, eventually leaping buildings and throwing trucks around.

Bioshock 1 It's easy to argue Bioshock 2 or Bioshock Infinite were better, but personally I loved the original. One of the best stories in gaming history, combined with arguably the most beautiful and compelling cities we've ever seen - and such an amazingly suspenseful atmosphere. Music, graphics, story, etc. all combine beautifully.


Honorable mentions:
Perfect Dark Zero. Wanted this in the top five, but one had to get cut...
It didn't get the best reviews, and it's laughed at by a lot of people, but I've had some serious amounts of play out of this game. The single player was quite rubbish, but the multiplayer (split screen, local, or online) was fantastic fun. It's rare for a multiplayer game to allow such customisation, with you able to balance teams by specifying how many cpu players to put on each time (and their AI level) as well as picking which weapons & equipment are available and how much cash everyone gets to spend etc.
Tomb Raider Legend (graphically the new one pisses over it, but this was classic tomb raider)
Pretty much all of the Lego games (personal favourite Lego Batman, but most/all have been great)
The Walking Dead (TTGames version of course. Fantastic story - just a shame most of your actions don't make much difference.)
Far Cry 3 (good story and good missions, all set in an awesome open world. FC2 should be ashamed)
Saints Row 2 (great fun open world game, and didn't take itself seriously. SR3 should be ashamed)
Deus Ex: Human Revolution (great to have the freedom to approach the game in so many ways - just a shame about the boss fights and the "multiple endings")
Splosion Man (great "indie" side-scrolling platformer, with good level design, great humour, and great fun in both single-player and multi-player)



*there's three now, but there were two when I started typing...

[Late]

Rockstar released a gameplay video for GTA:V today.
Looking pretty bloody fantastic to me!

At time of posting the rockstar site is suffering. Tis now on youtube too, as well as a few other sites, which should ease the strain a lot.

rockstargames
youtube

[harv]

Woo hoo!!! Have just got my horsie back!!! A real mean looking fucker too lol

[ancelotti]

It looks incredible!

Despite GTA IV being a critical darling, it lacked in a few areas. The world Rockstar created felt repetitive and lifeless. With GTA V, it looks as if they've improved upon IV in every area and I can't wait to play it. I was worried that switching between the 3 characters would affect the flow of the gameplay, but as the female narrator said, they've focused a lot on fluidity and it seems to show. After playing RDR and The Last of Us I wondered if they might be the defining games of this generation. GTA V could top them both if it delivers.

[harv]

Just started playing Injustice and quite like it so far. Am going to have to turn up the difficulty though I think because Chapter 1 was way too easy. Am doing my usual with these sort of fighting games - press all the buttons in a random fashion lol

Quite surprising how doing that completely fools the majority of AI for these games lol. Might have to start blocking stuff during Chapter 2 though.

Not too keen on the art direction though, but I guess I've been spoilt by the top-notch art direction of the Arkham games which is more realistic. I prefer it that way tbh.