145 replies to this topic

[Axe99]

Well, it's a little sad to say it, but Gal Civ III's up to patch 1.2 now, and about time I made good on my promise to write up how it was.  Which is, sadly, still a little buggy and having some obvious balancing issues.  At its core, the mechanics are that of a good 4X space strategy game, but there are little things like inconsistent tech costs (it costs almost 8-10 times less to get the best missile tech, compared with the tech before it - so in my last game it took me 20-odd turns to research the second best tech, then only two more to research the best, when for any kind of balance it should cost more, not less), but things like the display crapping out on me requiring a hard restart of the machine (twice yesterday) and camera glitches that require a game restart (although, unlike the display glitch, you can save before you have to restart).  It's also lacking some automation options that were there in Gal Civ II, like automatic construction of starbase modules, which aren't big things, but they were big quality-of-life improvements of the ilk you'd generally expect to carry through to a sequel, rather than be left out.

Once you get past all of that, the actual game is still a lot of fun, with mechanics that are iteratively deeper than those in Gal Civ II, and it is a lot of fun (it's my second-most played game in the last 12 months), but if anyone was thinking about it, and it's not the kind of game you play forever (I was playing Gal Civ II until Gal Civ III came out, and will likely play Gal Civ III until IV pops up, so I'll get plenty of time playing it when they've polished it a bit more) then I'd wait until it's in better shape to get into it.

[GasClown]

Broken Sword 5 was okay (just finished it). There was a bit of guess work in some of the puzzles or figuring out of things... I wouldn't go out of your way to get it if you're not a fan of the series or enjoyed some of the first ones (when they were still 2d) for a bit of nostalgia. That was one of that main reasons I thought I'd get it in the first place. It's a pretty standard point-and-click affair with an okay story, some spots of good humour, some decent moments but overall nothing to do cartwheels over. 6.5/10

[GraphicX]

mad max, finally finished the campaign.

the campaign was far too short, i dragged the game out with what i was doing, but there were hardly any proper side quests & with the short campaign it made it a little poor.

the game was still just on 7/10, all the workings were quality, so were the visuals & effects.  i only wish they'd put more effort into things to do in the game.  sure there's tons of places to scavenge & explore, but actually little to no reason to do it.  if you play the game how most would, you would never experience/unlock most stuff, the game's just too short.  but if you want all that stuff you end up in the land of repetition as there's not enough content in objects etc.

it's a good game, but nothing great.  worth a play, but wouldn't have paid more than the $30 i did for it.

[Aromaci]

MGSV =

[GraphicX]

was metal gear v crap was it ?  i haven't touched it but some of claims i've heard for it are just dumb.

[Aromaci]

If you care at all about the story and the characters, it's the dumbest shit ever.

[GasClown]

Aromaci, on 28 September 2015 - 04:22 AM, said:

If you care at all about the story and the characters, it's the dumbest shit ever.

In all honesty - I've never really cared for the MGS story... it's one of those typical Japanese game stories (like Resident Evil) that never made any sense to me. Story has always been its weakest point (imo) and I think that's amplified because the gameplay is at its best in MGSV.

[Aromaci]

GasClown, on 28 September 2015 - 06:11 AM, said:

In all honesty - I've never really cared for the MGS story... it's one of those typical Japanese game stories (like Resident Evil) that never made any sense to me. Story has always been its weakest point (imo) and I think that's amplified because the gameplay is at its best in MGSV.

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Well I do care. To me the story and characters are what make MGS unique and that's what I'm looking for. The gameplay's alright but the open world was too big and unnecessary. Even if the gameplay in V was bad, the story would still be a steaming pile.

[GasClown]

Aromaci, on 28 September 2015 - 06:26 AM, said:

.

Well I do care. To me the story and characters are what make MGS unique and that's what I'm looking for. The gameplay's alright but the open world was too big and unnecessary

I'm not saying you're wrong - and I do like the characters... it was/is just the story behind the whole thing that never really captured me (compared to games like Last of Us etc). Unique though - absolutely. I was never one to pay much attention to all the codecs etc... they were just too long. Some were funny though... and it's good they're gone or at least in form of a tape that you can listen to at your own pleasure (which I haven't really at all).

I agree that having it open world killed the lengthy cutscenes / story for those that were attached to it but I still prefer this format for the gameplay. Did the open world need to be that big - probably not. I'm still stuck in Afghanistan and haven't even gotten to Africa... played it for roughly 30-40 hours.

[Aromaci]

For me if I want to play a game for the sake of gameplay there are dozens of other games out there that do it just as well or better. What makes MGS worth playing is what I stated above. I rarely play games just for gameplay, I'm a story whore like that. MGS is bat shit crazy but that is part of it's charm and also it's not just the story that makes MGS unique but also what Kojima is trying to tell us through the story.

[GraphicX]

here's my review i wrote on steam for this war of mine;

Quote

very interesting, yet repetitive game.

the characters & their personalities really add something, if not a little overboard with one being 'nice' & another being a right pain the butt (yes i'm referring to the 'good cook').

game has an annoying habit of punishing you though for no good reason. example of this is having ample meds, food & fire wood stockpiled so no need to scavenge. of course you elect to not take the risk & scavenge but then the next day for zero reason at all your characters will be ill & depressed. truly frustrating being punished for supposedly succeeding. even if you medicate the characters who have become ill & give them bedrest, & console,feed & bed rest the depressed characters but fail to scavenge again you'll be punished again with them becoming far sicker for the ill characters & the depressed characters will likely up & leave !!

due to the above & the lack of replay value in my eyes i can only offer it a 6/10.

bit more on that 'punishment' thing the game does.  i played the firefighter who's going it alone last night, was collecting TONS of stuff, had built literally everything but all the time i was being punished by have all my food & water stolen.  ok so that was easy to get around (keep all my food on the stove & it never gets stolen).  so there i was with tons of gear & i went on a scavenge & stole a couple of items.  the story for the firefighter is that he has a wife & daughter waiting for him in the countryside, so what do you think his response to stealing was ?  well of course became instantly broken (literally cannot control the character at all), then hung himself ...

[GasClown]

GraphicX, on 12 October 2015 - 03:52 AM, said:

here's my review i wrote on steam for this war of mine;



bit more on that 'punishment' thing the game does.  i played the firefighter who's going it alone last night, was collecting TONS of stuff, had built literally everything but all the time i was being punished by have all my food & water stolen.  ok so that was easy to get around (keep all my food on the stove & it never gets stolen).  so there i was with tons of gear & i went on a scavenge & stole a couple of items.  the story for the firefighter is that he has a wife & daughter waiting for him in the countryside, so what do you think his response to stealing was ?  well of course became instantly broken (literally cannot control the character at all), then hung himself ...

I dunno - never had that 'zero reason punishment' thing happen to me. There was always a reason why someone was injured. And they only got depressed if I didn't keep them happy. Reading books, smoking, coffee, radio, among other things keeps them from getting sad/depressed... they usually say what they want if you'd read it. Also look at their characteristics, sometimes that gives a hint (e.g. smoker). The problem isn't the game but you not understanding how to play it.

[GraphicX]

yeah i got who smoked (the cook), who was keen on coffee (the girl who raises spirits) etc, but the fire fighter had none of those dependencies.  he was simply portrayed as a family man & stealing caused him to simply hang himself which goes against the grain of what his character was meant to be.  the other stuff was about having tons of everything (food, water, coffee, smokes etc) & not needing to scavenge.  if you elect not to scavenge the next day half your characters will be sick, medicate them & fail to scavenge again & i found they turned terminally ill & this wasn't during winter or anything.  but if i scavenged just for the sake of it they were fine.

[GasClown]

GraphicX, on 12 October 2015 - 05:00 AM, said:

yeah i got who smoked (the cook), who was keen on coffee (the girl who raises spirits) etc, but the fire fighter had none of those dependencies.  he was simply portrayed as a family man & stealing caused him to simply hang himself which goes against the grain of what his character was meant to be.  the other stuff was about having tons of everything (food, water, coffee, smokes etc) & not needing to scavenge.  if you elect not to scavenge the next day half your characters will be sick, medicate them & fail to scavenge again & i found they turned terminally ill & this wasn't during winter or anything.  but if i scavenged just for the sake of it they were fine.

Well - as they say, war isn't easy. They're not exactly living in particularly good conditions, even with the luxuries. People are bound to get sick so you have to get medication to counter that. Sleep is also very important... I usually have 3 beds minimum. Even if you don't know someone is a smoker, a dialogue/speech box usually says, "I feel like a smoke" or something like that... need to pay attention to those as well. Talking is another thing as well if someone is sad.

[Axe99]

Well, I know who I want looking after me if I'm ever caught in a warzone .  Sorry to hear it was a bit arbitrary for ya Graph.

[GraphicX]

i still yanked a good 20 hours out of it, was a good game, but after the 2nd play you sorta pick up the triggers in the game for different things & some of them are poorly implemented.

[GasClown]

Finished Wolfenstein: The New Order. Rather enjoyed it although it did drag out a bit and I started to lose interest in it towards the end. The weapon selection radial menu was a joke and a couple of times (in the heat of things) got me killed because it was so slow. Duel wielding was ordinary as well and I think having one energy dependant weapon was enough, it became a bit of a chore having to power up multiple. I liked the mix of stealth even though it wasn't that well done and there was a wide array of environments which kept things fresh (for the most part). Holding it together was the solid story, characters and believable world. Recommend. 8/10.

[Axe99]

Cheers Clowny, you're not the only person I've heard good things from .

[GraphicX]

finished bioshock 2, second time i have (first was on ps3).  was exactly as i remembered it, drill still extremely overpowered when it comes to taking out the bosses.  hard to rate it being a second time through but probs a 6/10 as bioshock & bioshock 3 are far better imo, but 2 is still a solid game in its own right.

[GraphicX]

metal gear solid V, ground zeroes

was really looking forward to playing this after having read the reviews etc.  unfortunately it's a bit of a watch_dogs for me as i just don't rate it.

for a new-ish release game it's just so lacking in so many areas;

- it tries to be realistic (something people rave about in the reviews), yet it has slow-mo when you're detected, you're able to permanently mark enemies & see them through walls, it takes an astonishing amount of bullets to send someone to the ground unless it's a headshot, the AI is extremely dumb (can knife them one at a time when they're standing side by side at arms length with no response etc etc)

- the visuals are partway there, but full of holes.  it's all very glossy, but the fine details are either rough or totally missing.  examples would be no sole pattern on your character's shoes, if you take shelter from the rain under a tin roof there's not only no sound of the rain (which should be louder), but the rain stops completely, there's no actual sign of the rain on the ground (the ground it glossy, but no puddles, mud, run off)

- the missions are very rudimentary & you can pretty well blast through them, hide for about 20 seconds & then all the enemies stop searching for you (even though you've left 30 of them dead)

i'm giving it 5/10, i can see what they were trying to do with it & it had a lot of good ideas, but no single thing was done particularly well or stood out as being special.