The Video Game Thread - what are you playing?

[Shaolin Chamber 36]

Do you not get bored of it? I got fed up with it on CoD4 and WaW. Since then I've barely played MW2 or Black Ops online...

Well the map pack was released for Xbox recently, so it gave us 4 new multiplayer maps, plus the zombie map, Call of the Dead. Plus I started playing different game modes that I never played before, such as Headquarters, Domination, Demolition, etc., it's been keeping things interesting. I really only play a couple times a day, when I'm not busy doing other things, mostly working on my site, so it's not too bad. I am looking forward to 11/8/11 though, MODERN WARFARE 3!

[Yi-Long]

Been playing Yakuza 4 lately. I'm now right before the last battle, but progress is still around 12-13% or something, so I'm guessing there will be lots of side-missions and collectibles and such to do once I'm finished...

Also received my new PC last week, and installed the WII/Gamecube emulator Dolphin on it.

1 word: Fucking amazing! I loved F-Zero on my gamecube, but now being able to play it in HD is just crazy! It looks soooo good that it's an extra shame that Nintendo fucked up with their newly announced HD console which won't be backwards compatible with cube-games.

I still have to learn all about the right settings and saves and such, but from what little I've seen so far on my PC with Mario Galaxy (wii) in HD and F-zero (cube) in HD, it's just fantastic.

[EvaUnit02]

'L.A. Noire' is a title I am definitely interested in, but I can wait until the price drops.

When you do, buy the Rockstar Pass from Live Marketplace or PSN. It's a really awesome deal from Rockstar, where you're only paying $12 USD for ALL THE DLC, including four new cases! Much better value for money than the shit you normally see from the likes of Activision, who charge $15 USD each for CoD map packs.

I'm sorry but one is a colossal fool if they spend money on Multiplayer map packs. (The exception is DICE, who make fully blown expansions for their MP titles. Eg Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam had all new guns, maps, vehicles, an entirely new setting that's different from the vanilla game, cool setting specific licensed music, i's own gameplay balance, etc.) By buying map packs you're only supporting splintering of playerbases and telling publishers that it's okay to release sub-standard content (eg the two MW2 map packs were incredibly bad value for money, as 40% of each pack were recycled maps from CoD4: MW1).

[Yi-Long]

'L.A. Noire' is a title I am definitely interested in, but I can wait until the price drops.

When you do, buy the Rockstar Pass from Live Marketplace or PSN. It's a really awesome deal from Rockstar, where you're only paying $12 USD for ALL THE DLC, including four new cases! Much better value for money than the shit you normally see from the likes of Activision, who charge $15 USD each for CoD map packs.

I'm sorry but one is a colossal fool if they spend money on Multiplayer map packs. (The exception is DICE, who make fully blown expansions for their MP titles. Eg Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam had all new guns, maps, vehicles, an entirely new setting that's different from the vanilla game, cool setting specific licensed music, i's own gameplay balance, etc.) By buying map packs you're only supporting splintering of playerbases and telling publishers that it's okay to release sub-standard content (eg the two MW2 map packs were incredibly bad value for money, as 40% of each pack were recycled maps from CoD4: MW1).

I'll be waiting for a version of LA Noire which just includes all the DLC on the disc, as I always do. I really don't want to buy a game and then pay extra for DLC. I'd rather wait a year orso.

I'm hoping Modnation Racers will be getting a 'complete' release somewhere this fall... game looks awesome, yet all the DLC has made me stay away from it so far.

[grim_tales]

Playing 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors on DS now. Superbly written adventure game so far but theres a LOT of text.

[Keung]

Completed "Wet" a couple of days ago. A bit repetitive, but better that I expected.

[grim_tales]

Now to embark on the final ending/playthrough of 999.
Amazing game

[grim_tales]

Completed 999 recently (incredible game), Professor Layton and the Lost Future (very good), Secret Files: Tunguska on DS (OK), and playing No More Heroes (Wii) now, a pretty fun game

[gasteropod]

Arkham City and it's brilliant!

[thelostdragon]

Arkham City and it's brilliant!

I love it!! Best game in a long time!

[Yi-Long]

Same here. Only 5% in cause I keep getting distracted by random thugs and such, but loving it so far...

Great great game, and should keep me busy and happy for a long time... although Battlefield 3 will probably be arriving in the mail this week as well...

[gasteropod]

Mr. Freeze's suit is dead cool, and when he puts his helmet on he talks like the version in the animated series

[EvaUnit02]

Battlefield 3 on its native platform of PC is amazing. I can't put this game down. 64-player Conquest mode servers are truly epic.

I'm debating on what game to buy next:-

• Skyrim will probably be a game that will suck me in and keep me playing for ~150+ hours (if it's anything like Fallout 3 and the far, far superior New Vegas), but I'm in no real hurry to play another RPG.
• Arkham City for PC is going to be cheap ($50 USD on Steam, 20% off if own Arkham Asylum on Steam, so $40 USD), but I'm honestly in no hurry to play that either.
• Saints Row: The Third - Oh man, this game looks like tonnes of fun. Pre-order bonus nets you a car which sucks up pedestrians and lets you fire them out of a cannon (or fire yourself) and an octopus launcher which let's mind control enemies.

[Yi-Long]

I liked Arkham City for as long as it lasted, but sadly that wasn't all that long. If you can wait, you're probably better off waiting for a GOTY-edition, and Skyrim should offer more value for money.

Also, Saint's Row 3 will be DLC-milking for the coming year, so I'm not even bothering with that one.

Tomorrow/Today (2/11) the new GTA5 will be released, so hopefully that will look cool...

[mirkoraba]

UFC Undisputed 3, better than the earlier releases but as frustrating as ever. What's the deal with those loading times? I spend more time watching loading screens than playing the game.

[HungFist]

Resident Evil: Director's Cut on PS1

Got the GameCube remake too, but the PS1 version is the classic for me. It was my first PS1 game... got it when I was in elementary school, just a few months before the release of Resident Evil 2. This game defined what zombies are for me, and if I ever get to make my zombie movie, these are the creatures you'll be seeing.

The game looks a bit dated of course, and the pocket size limitations are a bit irritating when it comes to keys and other vital stuff, but otherwise it's still awesome and very moody, even scary I might say. The two biggest strengths are
1) visual design (the walls, and the floors, the corridors etc. are scary as hell)
2) the soundtrack is very moody

Soundtrack samples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohX6T-cMPRU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6g2Wyj4-Zg



(shame about the censorship in the EU version)

[Xenon]

Resident Evil: Director's Cut on PS1

Got the GameCube remake too, but the PS1 version is the classic for me. It was my first PS1 game... got it when I was in elementary school, just a few months before the release of Resident Evil 2. This game defined what zombies are for me, and if I ever get to make my zombie movie, these are the creatures you'll be seeing.

The game looks a bit dated of course, and the pocket size limitations are a bit irritating when it comes to keys and other vital stuff, but otherwise it's still awesome and very moody, even scary I might say. The two biggest strengths are
1) visual design (the walls, and the floors, the corridors etc. are scary as hell)
2) the soundtrack is very moody

Ah yes... The game that killed my PlayStation2 laser While I prefer the remake and RE2 over it, I can't deny it's influence on the survival horror genre. While it didn't age very gracefully and the voice acting is one of the worst I have ever heard it's still a well deserved cult classic. Shame how downhill the franchise went starting with RE4.

Currently playing: No More Heroes on Wii and Dungeons of Dredmor on PC. Can't wait to get my hands on Street Fighter X Tekken *drools*

[HungFist]

Ah, yes, the voice acting... back in the days it was fine, as I was 10 years old and could barely understand the dialogue... this time it was quite amusing indeed... "Whoaa, this hall is dangerous"

And yes, RE2 is ever better, possibly my second favorite game ever. That one's gonna be up next (completed RE1 in three days, playtime 6 hours, 9 saves, and no first aid sprays used...)

I think RE4 was fantastic. RE3 brought the trilogy to a nice end (even though it wasn't as good a game as RE 1&2) but then it went downhill with bloody boring spin offs like Code Veronica and rather pointless Resident Evil 0. RE4 reinvented the series. That being said, RE5 looked so boring I never even tried it.

[Xenon]

I think RE4 was fantastic. RE3 brought the trilogy to a nice end (even though it wasn't as good a game as RE 1&2) but then it went downhill with bloody boring spin offs like Code Veronica and rather pointless Resident Evil 0. RE4 reinvented the series. That being said, RE5 looked so boring I never even tried it.

Opinions, opinions... I for one loved Code Veronica and its Gothic-y vibe. RE4 is not a bad game from graphical and gameplay standpoint, but what I hate about is the characters, story and the dialogue writing...

Characters: everyone is an absolute asshole and feels the need to act like one. Leon is Leon by name only (wasn't he supposed to be a ginger btw?). Ashley is one the most annoying characters and damsels in distress in video gaming history. Every time I heard "Leon, HEEEEEEELP!" I felt like shooting her in the throat. The only ok character was Luis Cera but even he had some horrible lines. Ada Wong is a cunt and should've stayed dead.

Story: Saving president's daughter... I think Capcom actually tried going for b-movie story intentionally this time, but that just didn't work for me.

Dialogue: And this is my major complaint about this game. While I can forgive the original RE for having terrible dialogue because those were dark ages of video game voice acting and the guy who wrote the dialogue clearly wasn't very experienced at translating or writing in English, the shit they did in RE4 is inexcusable. I think they wanted to copy the cheesiness of the first one, but instead ended up with most cringe worthy crap I had a displeasure of hearing:

Luis Sera: Okay, I have only one, very important question: You got a smoke?
Leon S. Kennedy: Got gum.

and

Ramon Salazar: I've sent my right hand to dispose of you.
Leon S. Kennedy: Your right hand comes off?

or

Ada Wong: Put your hands where I can see them.
Leon S. Kennedy: Sorry, but following a ladies lead just isn't my style.

And this killed the game for me.

[gasteropod]

I never played the first Resident Evil, but Resi 2 defined zombies for me and I don't think I've seen them done like that in any film to be honest. It sounds funny but that game actually made me feel quite... sick, not in disgust but due to the atmosphere and it was pretty scary when I was that age. Once the PS Vita has been updated to play PS1 games I shall stick Resi 2 on it. The next one I got was Resident Evil 4 which I thought was probably one of the best games I'd ever played, and was surprised at how long it was considering the vast and detailed locations. The fifth was decent but not as good.

Edit: Actually I had the Gun Survivor one too which wasn't that bad.

[HungFist]

Finally got Resident Evil 2, or to be more precise, Biohazard 2, under the works via Playstation store. Still almost as good as my memories from nearly 15 years ago. A bit of repetition at the police station, but the visual design is masterful and the soundtrack moody as hell. Voice acting and "character direction" is rather non-sensical, but no big deal.



The girlfriend's been a bit puzzled with all the translation requests via skype... "hey honey, 顔をちぎるって。。。 tear off a face, right?"

The kanji can be a bit hard to read due to 1998 graphics, so I need to draw the closest I can and ask her to figure it out when my denshi jisho can't.

Survival Japanese

[Silver & Gold Dragon]

I recently completed SLEEPING DOGS story was my favourite story in an open world driving though was a bit easy the hard thing was the time it takes to finish took me 14h 53m including a few side missions. Maybe in 2009 I would have said it was the best game i'd ever played as it has almost everything great combat, driving & maybe a little under used gun play. but I've played spent many hours playing open world driving games it's getting a little old hat for me especially out side of missions. I'll probably SLEEPING DOGS a bit more then move on to something else maybe THE BOUNCER, CANIS CANEM EDIT, VIEWTIFUL JOE, THE RED STAR or BLUE DRAGON or maybe none of the listed...

[luckystars]

Just for into Killer is Dead and I love it. Reviews were horrible

[RetroRobot]

As im waiting for Arkham Origins to arrive in the mail, I DL'ed Harley Qiunn's Revenge to get back into Bat mode..... not knowing I had to play as Robin for the most part. Not a huge Boy Wonder fan, but he has some cool moves, though I prefered the Bat part. The big fight when saving Batman is proving a little problematic though. Maybe im just rusty, as im not hitting those counters right. Better sack up.

I know Origins wasn't that favorably reviewed, but im still looking forward to it.

[degeneration]

blasting my way through Hardcore Kill Confirmed in CoD: Ghosts. Arcade as opposed to realism, but I enjoy it a lot.