Video Games Thread

[harv]

CoD started going downhill from the third game onwards imo. I think I remember hearing that Treyarch were going to do something different with the next game, hopefully it's going to be something that's going to make the game seem fresh again. It's just the same old same old lately. Treyarch did the franchise a lot of favours when the introduced Nazi Zombie goodness, so hopefully they're going to do something else just as awesome.

Who knows, perhaps the CoD franchise won't be the in-thing next gen and we'll have something different to attract gamers that enjoy online multiplayer..?

There's only so much that a publisher can milk a franchise, surely we won't see another CoD game every year when all 3 next gen consoles are out..?

Edit: I've decided to join the 21st Century and have upped my internet connection from 10 Meg to 60 Meg, and in October it'll be going up to 100 Meg

[jman]

Had a quick look at the leaderboards on Defence Grid and you don't appear to be ahead on very many, Kieron (hard to be certain as there's hundreds of leaderboards and each takes a few seconds to load - you don't appear to have played many at all, tbh!). I usurped you on one of them, tried but failed on another, then realised there's a load of maps I've not even tried yet (Resurgence Map Pack, I think they were called) so I moved on to those. Will polish those off (on normal story mode), then I'll probably try some of the alternative modes. So many to do, though!

I definitely prefer (and rank higher on the leaderboards on) the levels where it's pretty much wide open, and you use towers to direct the flow of aliens. It's possible to come up with some fantastic layouts which mean the beasties have to go for bloody ages before getting near the power cores.

I only played enough modes/maps to get the achievement for getting a certain amount of gold stars.. hence why I havent played a lot.. but some maps where I have gold stars I have no scores against them anymore  .. maybe I didnt have a connection at the time.. seems weird though.. but definitely beating you on the majority on maps that I do have scores on... hopefully I'll get chance to do the 2nd level on DLC tonight.. I might download the extra single maps too.

[Late]

Downloaded a game on xbla last night (called splatter - getting great reviews but I've not tried it yet). Took a while to d/l, mainly as I was using uTorrent on the pc, so while it was downloading I played a particularly tough level of Defence Grid. Got about three quarters of the way through wave 25 of 25 when a message popped up to say my download's complete - and the machine froze.
BAAAAALLLLLLSSS. Rather annoying, that!...

[jman]

(thats late's excuse for not beating my scores    )

Defense Grid has got a nasty habit of freezing though.. when I was applying the update the other day it froze in the middle of it.. when I turned it back on and started playing the DLC for the first time.. the whole map was missing some textures and everything was a deep shade of purple.. but theres me playing it thinking thats what it was supposed to be like as the "john cleese" robot says something along the lines of trying out a new training program he found... lol... in the end I had to delete the update and redownload it...

[Late]

Oooh, just noticed my gamerscore is 43200 (assuming the sig generator's correct).
Gonna have to get me 10 more, then avoid achievements for a while...

[AVFCRoss]

CoD started going downhill from the third game onwards imo. I think I remember hearing that Treyarch were going to do something different with the next game, hopefully it's going to be something that's going to make the game seem fresh again. It's just the same old same old lately. Treyarch did the franchise a lot of favours when the introduced Nazi Zombie goodness, so hopefully they're going to do something else just as awesome.

I don't get how CoD went downhill after 3, when it changed the direction of First Person Shooters forever. Modern Warfare became the blueprint for practically every FPS available in this generation, even now.

I can't stand the CoD single player, and I'd never buy if it was still shipped without Multiplayer, because the MP mode IS CoD these days...I'll literally spend about 2/3 days on the CoD single player experience, just to harvest the trophies and move on quickly.

Zombies was only fun when it was simple, imo. They went into overkill with the new gameplay features in Black Ops....Should have kept it simplified and not introduced all this bullshit with teleporters, pack a punched weapons, dozens of perks and massive maps with secrets and shortcuts.

Infinity Ward Spec Ops missions are quite good, but the new survival mode they introduced this year is just boring. It's OK for the first couple of times, but it's just your standard horde mode that you've seen dozens of times in other games.

CoD will always be about the Multiplayer as far as I'm concerned, and I'd actually thumbs up any planned notion to cut the single player completely if it means further focus on Competitve/Co-operative Multiplayer.

[harv]

I didn't say after 3, I said from the third game onwards - meaning that the first two were good and the third one and any others following it weren't as good. I just don't like perks and prefer a solid single player campaign to online competitive multiplayer and absolutely despise online co-op. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

I still want the franchise to go into different timelines than the obligatory WWII and modern warfare bollocks. It's just the same old same old  year after year after year. I'm surprised it still flies off shelves tbh.

The main problem I have with FPS and TPS games these days is regenerating health. No more exhilaration of flying by the seat of your pants, with a whisker of health left praying that your next killed enemy drops a health pack. You just hide behind cover and wait for your health to go up again these days.

[Late]

As Ross says, you're definitely in the minority there, Harv. COD is a multiplayer game with a campaign thrown in to round it off - and was effectively born with COD4:MW. It's purely about the online experience.

[jman]

I don't get how CoD went downhill after 3, when it changed the direction of First Person Shooters forever. Modern Warfare became the blueprint for practically every FPS available in this generation, even now.

Thats hilarious.. COD did nothing innovative from MW onwards.. how exactly has it changed the direction of FPS games... COD has never been innovative and never set any precedents... cant believe your even think that, would love to hear your reasons lol... personally I think it just shows what a blinkered view you have on gaming as a whole.. ever heard of Counter Strike/Battlefield/Medal of Honor - all around way before COD.. Battlefield 2 changed tack and changed from WWII to a fictional modern day shooter back in 2005 with a strong multiplayer implementation.. guess what COD does 2 years later with the release of COD:MW lol.. the only advantage COD ever had over Battlefield was its graphics.. and now look at BF3.. knocks the socks off anything COD has produced.

You just dont want to agree with the widely accepted belief that Halo is responsible for most successful FPS games on consoles these days because its a microsoft branded game... love or hate the game.. it doesn't matter.. it made the FPS genre what it is today and yes it would of definitely had a direct influence on the success of the COD franchise.

[jman]

Gonna have to get me 10 more, then avoid achievements for a while...

That didnt last long then.. lol

[AVFCRoss]

I don't get how CoD went downhill after 3, when it changed the direction of First Person Shooters forever. Modern Warfare became the blueprint for practically every FPS available in this generation, even now.

Thats hilarious.. COD did nothing innovative from MW onwards.. how exactly has it changed the direction of FPS games... COD has never been innovative and never set any precedents... cant believe your even think that, would love to hear your reasons lol... personally I think it just shows what a blinkered view you have on gaming as a whole.. ever heard of Counter Strike/Battlefield/Medal of Honor - all around way before COD.. Battlefield 2 changed tack and changed from WWII to a fictional modern day shooter back in 2005 with a strong multiplayer implementation.. guess what COD does 2 years later with the release of COD:MW lol.. the only advantage COD ever had over Battlefield was its graphics.. and now look at BF3.. knocks the socks off anything COD has produced.

You just dont want to agree with the widely accepted belief that Halo is responsible for most successful FPS games on consoles these days because its a microsoft branded game... love or hate the game.. it doesn't matter.. it made the FPS genre what it is today and yes it would of definitely had a direct influence on the success of the COD franchise.

I never said anything about how they innovated from MW1 onwards, stop with the selective reading BS 

Modern Warfare 1 was revolutionary, and like I said, it's the blueprint for every modern FPS game.

Counter Strike was incredibly basic and watered down, and was never available to console users...Look at every FPS that is released these days, they all have elements ripped straight from the Call of Duty online mode back in 2007.

Even Treyarch used the exact same engine...They chucked whatever plans they originally had out of the window in the favour of the Modern Warfare engine, which speaks volumes.

Battlefield is nothing like CoD...Did you ever play Battlefield 1? It couldn't be any more different than Modern Warfare 1...Now, Battlefield 3 has ripped out so many gameplay changes that are influenced by CoD, it's close to laughable how they want to be seen as a "competitor" given how much they've actually taken from MW and tried to make it their own.

[jman]

Right.. so you didnt say they were innovative... but they are revolutionary... interesting, not quite sure how those two terms differ.. but whatever...

How can it "change the direction of FPS games forever" without being innovative LOL.. where exactly did it take it - on an amble down generic road.. ??  How about higher retail & DLC prices, shorter single player campaigns and annualisations of non sport games... maybe the direction your talking of is downwards!!

And what elements of multiplayer did MW offer (that Halo & no other game before offer) that every FPS game is using as a blueprint nowadays?? Maybe give some examples.. im struggling to think of any that have been crucial to FPS game development here.

[AVFCRoss]

Right.. so you didnt say they were innovative... but they are revolutionary... interesting, not quite sure how those two terms differ.. but whatever...

How can it "change the direction of FPS games forever" without being innovative LOL.. where exactly did it take it - on an amble down generic road.. ??  How about higher retail & DLC prices, shorter single player campaigns and annualisations of non sport games... maybe the direction your talking of is downwards!!

And what elements of multiplayer did MW offer (that Halo & no other game before offer) that every FPS game is using as a blueprint nowadays?? Maybe give some examples.. im struggling to think of any that have been crucial to FPS game development here.

They differ hugely, Modern Warfare 1 was definitely revolutionary, how can you deny that?

The CoD franchise, whilst innovative at first, is not innovative anymore, it doesn't change enough of it's core features year after year to be considered innovative.

Also, as examples, Resistance 2 used a 3 perk system, Battlefield used the exact same concept as Demolition and just called it "Rush", Bioshock 2 had the lobby layout, with things like challenges, custom class sets and party system.

[harv]

Hopefully Sony and Microsoft are going to lessen the restrictions imposed on developers by both SEN and Live so that we can have Counter Strike on consoles next gen. Halo online and the online for CoD 1 and 2 were great but nothing, not even Goldeneye, compares to Counter Strike on the PC for online goodness. Nothing.

If that rumour of Counter Strike on the U, and the rumour of full Steam integration, are true then I'm going to be a very happy bunny indeed. Online multiplayer doesn't get better than Counter Strike imo.

[Late]

Gonna have to get me 10 more, then avoid achievements for a while...

That didnt last long then.. lol

Oops lol.

LOVING Trials Evolution (1200msp on xbla). Same concept as Trails HD of course, but better level design, beautiful graphics, and much improved 2.5d vantage.