Video Games Thread

[harv]

I did get my maths wrong, it's 2400 billion or 2.4 trillion. Fucking hell, that's bloomin ridiculous lmfao

[harv]

If only you could see what I've seen with your eyes...

...I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-Beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears...in...rain. Time to die...



You could almost believe that Roy has been playing Elite Dangerous Horizons on an emulator a few hundred years in the future!!!

 

[jman]

Done with Fallout 4 now.. 100% achievement completion.. completed every ending... it was good fun but am definitely ready to move onto something else now.

Caved in and bought Plague Inc: Evolved.. its very much like its flash counterpart.. but bought it more as a time-waster which can sit between games.

Just tried out the Doom : Closed Alpha multiplayer... I'm loving it.. took a few go's to learn the map but when you find out where the power items are.. it becomes a LOT easier.  Love the Demon Rune feature.. no stupid long timers telling everyone where it is going to be placed on the map.. 3 seconds and its in gameplay.. first player to get it turns into a hulking Demon with enhanced weaponry and jetpacks.. if he dies, then the killer gets the power.. Weapons are great, unlimited ammo in all.. but each weapon with different traits.. naturally I plump for the Rocket Launcher/Shotgun combo.. even if its not really a balanced and sensible combo.. its bad-ass!  Everyone has access to 90% of the weapons in load-outs which they choose.. having no ammo/no gun pickup feels weird at first... but it makes for a really fast, fluid and frenetic gameplay which is very reminiscent of the old doom/quake games.  Doom has definitely shot up in my "must buy" list for next year - I just hope they nail the campaign.. don't make it too linear or too short and I'll be a happy chappy.

[Late]

Prestiged (first time) on COD Blops 3 over the weekend. So now I'm back to basic weapons/equipment, and doing pretty rubbish again (though a lot better than when I first started out - knowing your way around the maps and having access to one of your favourite pieces of equipment makes life a lot easier).

Played Pneuma yesterday. Was okay. Wouldn't have paid more than a quid or so for it, but it entertained me for a while. Lots of easy gamerscore there, too, if that's your bag.

Tried another of the GWGs - "Castlestorm". Kind of a mesh of Angry birds, Worms, and Tower defence. Couldn't really get into it, so doubt I'll play it again.
Similar story with Deer God. Very odd game (though oddly pleasing retro visuals) but the story was too batty for me to put up with, and the objectives and controls are often difficult to fathom. Possibly rewarding if you're willing to invest a day or two, but I'm not. Not when there's loads of other games for free that I'll probably enjoy more.

Still haven't tried (GWG):
How To Survive: Storm Warning Edition
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (played it on the xb360, and wasn't a massive fan, so might skip this one)
Valiant Hearts: The Great War (bought it ages ago, well before it was GWG, but haven't tried it yet)
Knight Squad
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing

Still got a few paid for games still unplayed, too.
Halo MCC (played a little of the first game, but not much. Played the first 3 on the xbox 360 way back when...)
Rare Replay (haven't tried any of them yet. Naturally I played a few of them back in the day, but surprisingly few of them)
The Escapists
Life Is Good
Final Fantasy Type 0 HD
I'm sure there's a few others.


Speaking of Final Fantasy, I see FF7 remake is going to be released in instalments. FFS, Squeenix, what are you playing at?!

Looks stunning, though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3sBZ5Nr4hc

Still no news on release dates, and still no news on how long Sony's timed exclusivity is for... :\

Shame they got rid of the turn-based combat - I love turn-based combat - but it was to be expected (and was strongly hinted at six months ago when Tetsuya Nomura said "...we can't have these upgraded, beautiful 3D models of Cloud and Barrett, still lining up in a row, jumping forward to attack an enemy, then jumping back to wait for their next turn. That would be bizarre." His opinion. I personally think I'd prefer that, but I can understand where they're coming from.)

Having recently played much of the original, the story still stands up well, but the visuals (and lack of speech) are incredibly dated now, This, however, looks better than I'd hoped - so I'm still very keen to play it.
For anyone who doesn't remember the original (or, god-forbid, hasn't played it) here's a comparison:
http://www.gamespot.com/videos/final-fantasy-vii-original-vs-remake/2300-6428489/

As with many folk, though, I'm not interested in it until it's fully released. Come on, Squeenix - you want time to make sure you do the job well but you've had two decades. How many more years before the remake is complete? I suspect we're talking years, here.

[jman]

I haven't been keeping up with news on the remake of FF7.. say whaaaat ?  Releasing in installments and getting rid of turned-based combat.. that doesn't sound good AT ALL!  If I had a PS4 - it would be an instant buy.. but for someone who would be buying a console to play that game.. its losing that value..

I've played *most* of the GWGs this year late.. my quick opinions :
Jan : D4 - good but it is weird Japanese shit.. completed it 100% achievement wise
Feb : IDARB : only played for about an hour - it was wacky.. but I found it a bit crap to be honest..
Mar : Rayman Legends - already had.. great little game, highly recommend.
Apr : Pool Nation FX - shit, don't bother.. wasted several hours on it and some achievements were glitchy.
Apr : Child of Light - already had - great little RPG game, doesn't last that long, but nicely styled and worth a go
May : Castlestorm - I actually quite liked it, took me ages to fully complete it - it does get a bit samey after a while but it did get difficult in some of the later levels.
June : Massive Chalice - I enjoyed this one mainly as I like strategy games, spent several hours playing through it.. but it wont be everyone's cuppa tea.. the game needed to be shorter to be honest, its quite difficult in places and the replay value is limited.
July : AC:BlackFlag - Great game for GWG - hadn't played it before.. completed the entire story.. didn't finish it completely until a month or two ago so it lasted me a while - plenty to do in the game
July : So Many Me - quite enjoyed this game too.. tough puzzles in places, doesn't last very long though - 100%ed
Aug : Metal Gear Solid 5 Ground Zeroes - haven't played yet.. not a massive fan of MGS - although Phantom Pain has got amazing reviews, so perhaps I should give this a go after Christmas ?
Aug : How to Survive : Storm Warning Edition - liked the idea and thought I'd like the game, but I found the gameplay annoying and niggly.
Sep : Deer God - definitely weird.. but strangely enjoyable (in parts).. glitchy achievements stopped me getting 100% on it.
Sep : Tomb Raider : Definitive Edition - played on the 360 and loved it.. haven't played the x1 version yet though.. will play at some point I expect
Oct : Valiant Hearts - doesn't last very long, but a very stylish game that is very easy in gameplay but enjoyable and the story is quite enjoyable as well - 100% finished.
Oct : Walking Dead - downloaded.. but not played.. I haven't seen a single episode of Walking Dead and don't intend too.. would play if I was desperate for something new.
Nov : Pneuma - lasted about 2-3 hours before I 100%'ed it - no replay value at all.. annoying voice acting but the story was mildly entertaining.
Nov : Knight Squad - not played yet.
Dec : Van Helsing - not played yet.. although I hated the film - so not expecting much
Dec : Thief - not played yet - dislike stealthy games

[harv]

There's a screenshot and video competition on the Frontier forums for the Horizons Beta. Some of them are jaw dropping.

I'm REALLY hoping that I'll be able to play Horizons on my iGPU when it launches otherwise the wait until May is going to fucking KILL me lmfao

[Late]

Give The Walking Dead a look, Kieron. It's set in the same universe as the TV show but is completely unrelated - an entirely different cast. Try the first episode to see if you like it. (If memory serves the game is spilt into about six episodes.)
I don't know anyone who tried it and didn't like it, but to be fair they probably all enjoyed the TV series so I can't say for absolute certain that you'd like it, but I definitely recommend it.

[harv]

Why on earth don't you watch The Walking Dead, you looney..? One of the best telly programmes to have come out of the States in recent years.

[harv]

Gameplay trailer for Horizons here. Looking amazing. Am going to need a meaty GPU to play it with that high IQ lol

It's out on the 15th, nearly there! Going to be interesting to see if my iGPU can handle it. I wasn't expecting it to handle vanilla Elite Dangerous at High settings so maybe it'll have a chance at Medium settings and 720p..?

HTC have announced that HTC Vive won't be released until Q2 next year...but I reckon that HTC might go bust before then

[stupac]

I've also never watched an episode of The Walking Dead but would also recommend the games. Season Two was free on PS+ last month so I tried it and loved it.

Managed to get The Telltale Games Collection bundle on the PS store on Black Friday. The Walking Dead Season One and Two, Game Of Thrones, The Wolf Among Us and Tales From The Borderlands all included. Looking forward to playing them all. 

[harv]

You both REALLY need to start watching the programme, it's awesome

[jman]

Why don't I watch it.. the same reason I don't watch any american-made shows.. they are shit... like all american tv!

Barring the animated shows.. (I will watch Simpsons from time-to-time.. and I am a big fan of South Park - the others I don't really care for).. they haven't made a decent American TV series since the X-Files - and that's my honest opinion.


But I'll give Walking Dead (the game) a fair chance then chaps.. I've got a few games on the run at the moment.. so probably wont be until after xmas.. but I'll let you know my thoughts once I've gone through the first episode.

[harv]

Blimey, you're missing out on A LOT of quality television

The Sopranos, The Wire, The Shield, Oz, Arrow, The Flash, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Walking Dead...you've missed out on ALL of those..? Bloody hell, you haven't lived

[harv]

Just tried out Elite Dangerous Horizons. Again, I'm REALLY surprised by the iGPU in the Intel i7 6700K. I didn't hold much hope of it being able to run the game, but I've brought the resolution down to 720p and the settings from High to Medium and I'm getting around 30fps driving around on the planet surface. Going to visit an icy planet next to see how the Intel HD 530 handles the SSS (Sub-Surface Scattering).

Going to take a while to tweak the controls to my liking though.

Pretty awesome landing the ship, managed it first time without doing any damage, although it was on a planet with low gravity which makes things A LOT easier. With high grav worlds you need to make your descent with your ship pointing upwards and giving it loads of thrust to stop yourself from splatting on the surface lol

[harv]

Got my Christmas pressie from my Mum today, Xenoblade Chronicles X. Not sure if I'm going to have the patience to wait until Christmas Day to open it though. Another time sink too, the game is fucking HUUUUGE. Bigger than Fallout 3, The Witcher 3 and Skyrim combined.

Elite Dangerous Horizons is fantastic. Worth every penny just for the Planetary Landings part of Season 2 let alone the other bits and pieces they're going to be adding during the next year. They have plans to do 10 seasons altogether and I'm planning on buying every single one if they manage to pull it off.