The Gaming Thread

[gunsage]

You know, another possibility is the Wii's Virtual Console. Of course, if they were going to add that, I'd make the demand that several Saturn titles needed included such as Albert Odyssey, Panzer Dragoon Saga, etc.

[RichS]

You know, another possibility is the Wii's Virtual Console. Of course, if they were going to add that, I'd make the demand that several Saturn titles needed included such as Albert Odyssey, Panzer Dragoon Saga, etc.

Now you have me wondering if my Saturn still works... That's what I should do this week, pull all my old consoles out and play them. Maybe I'll get my daughters hooked on one of them - While fixing my paddle controllers, I had them playing (i.e. arguing over ) Warlords on my old 2600.

I started FEAR early - it's been very good so far. Though, I've gotten to Interval 4, and I'm lacking firepower.

That, and I'm stuck on Half-Life 2 Ep. 2 - the darned multiple Strider mission. I'm near the end, where the Combine is flying in Striders and driving me insane.

I also want to start Stalker - problem is having pre-teens when I want to play M-rated games. I'll just start next week when they're in school.

[gunsage]

problem is having pre-teens when I want to play M-rated games.

I'm going to have to start thinking about that as well. Sure, my little girl's not even 2 yet, so she really doesn't catch the gist of what's going on, but still. I rented Silent Hill Origins for the PS2. Good stuff, actually. VERY tough. Although, there's something I don't quite understand from a review I'd read about it recently that I'd like to provide perspective on. In previous Silent Hill games, you got weapons, but they were fairly well spaced out and for one reason that's typical among most survival horror games: they don't break.

Reading that statement, you already know what's coming next. That's right...THEY BREAK. Sure, you find weapons a plenty, but they BREAK over time...some a lot quicker than others. Further, a lot of weapons require expert timing because enemies are rather ruthless in this one, from a close quarters combat perspective. Now keep this in mind as you process the next statement that I'd found in a review: there aren't enough enemies.

WHAT. Not enough enemies?! Your goddamn'd weapons are breaking! There'd BETTER be less enemies! Now sure, they could've remedied this by having ye olde system of plank of wood here, lead pipe there, etc. Instead, they opted for this new style which, while annoying that stuff breaks, also allows for a LOT more weapons and diversity of such. In any case, as a direct port from the PSP, I'm in awe about how good it is, not just in terms of gameplay, but also graphics, animation, etc.

Really, about the only things I'm left bitching about is how much damage the enemies do coupled with their neverending cheapshots and also how quickly your dude gets tired and starts just about limping after running for about 10 seconds. That's about it for that. On another note, I beat Apollo Justice! Friggin' awesome game all the way to the end. And that's about all of it.

[Geek King]

You know, another possibility is the Wii's Virtual Console. Of course, if they were going to add that, I'd make the demand that several Saturn titles needed included such as Albert Odyssey, Panzer Dragoon Saga, etc.

I've still got Panzer Dragoon Saga, and a working Saturn.

Also Radient Silvergun, which is worth popping in once in awhile. Best overhead shooter ever.

[Chanlin]

I also want to start Stalker - problem is having pre-teens when I want to play M-rated games. I'll just start next week when they're in school.

Stalker actually isn't so bad. The worst of it is excessive swearing. Lots of F-bombs and the occasional S**t. Otherwise there really isn't a lot of blood and gore. I mean to say you can shoot a mutated animal or a person at point blank with a shotgun and the worst is they scream or what have you and then fall over. There is little to no blood even when something gets caught in some of the more sinister anomalies in the game.

There is one called the vortex whose description basically says whatever gets caught inside this anomaly is literally ripped apart by the force and the worst you see is the body disappears and there are a few fine red particles that spray down but thats it. Its not graphic in a Resident Evil sort of way.

There are a few rather scary looking creatures later in the game that have been mutated due to radiation exposure, but again this is not very graphic.

I can't say I have played the entire game yet, but I can say so far its not something I would be worried about my 4 year old niece seeing except for hearing the swearing.

[RayvenQ]

Stalker actually isn't so bad. The worst of it is excessive swearing. Lots of F-bombs and the occasional S**t. Otherwise there really isn't a lot of blood and gore. I mean to say you can shoot a mutated animal or a person at point blank with a shotgun and the worst is they scream or what have you and then fall over. There is little to no blood even when something gets caught in some of the more sinister anomalies in the game.

There is one called the vortex whose description basically says whatever gets caught inside this anomaly is literally ripped apart by the force and the worst you see is the body disappears and there are a few fine red particles that spray down but thats it. Its not graphic in a Resident Evil sort of way.

There are a few rather scary looking creatures later in the game that have been mutated due to radiation exposure, but again this is not very graphic.

I can't say I have played the entire game yet, but I can say so far its not something I would be worried about my 4 year old niece seeing except for hearing the swearing.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R can be pantwettingly scary sometimes or just downright creepy and a soloution for the problem of swearing would be to wear a set of ear/headphones when playing a game that you know might have swearing in it.

If you do that though, just don't play in the dark, either alone or with someone in the room who can creep up on you

Does anyone know what the basic system specs or relevant comparison would be for Portal? I was under the assumption it should just work since it's using the Half-Life 2 engine. And actually, HL2 ran very well on my PC. I am thinking of upgrading my RAM soon, but I'm wondering if that will be enough. What I REALLY want to play is Bioshock.

If you can run Half life 2 very well then you can run portal just as well (If not slightly better since there aren't any NPC's therefore the AI isn't biting into your processing) Get it, the ending itself is totally worth the money for it, infact so is the rest of the game.

So I got portal like you guys recommended. I played up till level 15 at which point I gave my friend's brother a chance and he finished in about 3 hours or so. I loved the game though I'm kind of nervous to finish it myself. Most of it I got through by pure luck of fucking around and beating the level without knowing how I did it. I very much see why everyone recommended it though!

If you haven't seen the ending, then play it until the end, seriously.

[gunsage]

I've still got Panzer Dragoon Saga, and a working Saturn.

Also Radient Silvergun, which is worth popping in once in awhile. Best overhead shooter ever.

Got both of those emu'd. Sure, it's probably not as good as the real thing, but they're both very fun. Unfortunately, RSG has just a liiiiiiiittle too much going on for the emu and the frameskip caused me to not be able to see what was going on in the fourth boss battle. Nice.

If you do that though, just don't play in the dark, either alone or with someone in the room who can creep up on you

This reminded me of something. When I first got my first PS2 (it got stolen later), one of the first games I had gotten for it was Silent Hill 2. I started playing the game in the late afternoon and by the time I'd gotten to the apartments, it was dark outside. Yeah, me and one of my friends playing through the creepyass apartments in a pitch black room then coming upon the first mannequin monster. Good times.

[Dark-Star]

Heh. Pretty creepy...try playing System Shock 2 in a dark room...for several hours...and then going out to blindly find your way to the bathroom and seeing two glowing eyes at about shoulder height. (it was our cat sitting on a table)

I came this close --> | to screaming bloody murder.

EDIT: Oh yeah - and if you ever happen to be overnighting at a place with a grandfather clock, DO NOT play a spooky game with clock chimes as a part of the gameplay. When the 'real' clock strikes midnight you will start seeing things in the dark. (didn't help I was alone in a big guest room in an old creaky house) >_<

[RayvenQ]

I was just reminded of something that happened at my local game store, background information, they all know me and are all my friends.

One of the girls had a Half Life 2 Headcrab Plushie with her that day, so, knowing I played the game, she threw it at me playfully, so I caught itt and began to have an epic wrestle with the thing, quoting one of the game characters "Get that freaking head humper off me!" before throwing the plushie across the room.

[lordlundar]

On the concept of spooky games to avoid playing in the dark:

F.E.A.R (PC & PS3) The game certainly lives up to it's name. I recall only one person being able to do it, and she was considered the store psychopath (taught me everything I know).

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's requiem (NGC) This game has a fun take. It doesn't just mess with the character's mind, it messes with your mind.

[Broomjockey]

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's requiem (NGC) This game has a fun take. It doesn't just mess with the character's mind, it messes with your mind.

ARGH! That game is EVIL. One of the characters has the same name I do. And one of the insanity effects is to have the character's name whispered. The first time I ran across that one, I was alone, at night, in the dark, playing with the aforementioned character which shares my name. About 5 seconds later, I was still alone, at night. NOT in the dark. With my back against the wall.

[gunsage]

To be perfectly honest, I love playing survival horror games in the dark. But really, the last "good" survival horror game I played was Resident Evil 4 (unless F.E.A.R. came out after it, then that). Sure, I still love ye olde Resident Evil 2, but it doesn't have quite the same effect on me now. That was my first. I'd like to throw a few other ones out there just in case you may not have tried them/heard of them...

- Siren
- Fatal Frame series
- Silent Hill 1, 2, and Origins (3 and 4 just didn't creep me out so much)
- Rule of Rose (more in concept than raw scare factor)

What I will say is this...both Siren and Rule of Rose are "force" games in that you REALLY have to make yourself play them. It's not that they're "bad," per se, but flawed definitely. These flaws weaken the gameplay, but not the atmosphere and concept, if you will. The best way to sum it up is the gameplay doesn't match the concept...much like with Killer 7. Even still, they're both decent in their own right and not hard to come by. I think Siren is about $10 or something.

On a brighter note, I've ordered Patapon off of Amazon. I'm also planning on ordering Crisis Core when I get paid next week. Booya.

[PCGameGuy]

I forgot about Eternal Darkness, I love that one! My favorite spooky was the original Thief : The Dark Project, especially the zombie levels. That moan would get me regularly as I tried to sneak through the catacombs, and then fade to black.

The sequel, The Metal Age, had some creepy robots that'd would freak you out too. Little steam engine dudes, clanking around and mumbling to themselves, and then they alert and start yelling and lobbing grenades!

[gunsage]

For some reason, I couldn't get Thief 1 or 2 to work on my current PC. Too bad, too...I loved the original, but never got very far. I also never beat Eternal Darkness. Hey, I remembered another few survival horror-like titles I should throw out there...

- Parasite Eve 1 and 2
- Dino Crisis

I'm not listing the other Dino Crises titles because, well, never tried 3 but it doesn't look all that hot...and 2 was just okay. I'm still hammering away at Shining Force Neo. Actually, there are more movies than I thought, which is cool, but it doesn't help the voice acting or the fact that it's basically another Diablo...or the fact that the originals were awesome...or the fact that it's no longer a turn-based strategy...and so on. BUT...it's still a fun game. Monotonous, repetitious...but still fun in small doses.

[gunsage]

I didn't play much over the weekend as much as I tested. I couldn't get Guardian Heroes to work and I had no idea what I was doing on Dragon Force so far, both for the Saturn obviously. If anyone has emu recommendations, PM me. Besides this, I popped on the PS1 emu and wailed away on Arc the Lad 1 again. Yes, I've already beaten it on the actual system, but I wanted to do it all emu'd now so that I could sell the actual copy. Beyond that, I started Blade Runner for the PC. Not a bad game so far, but I wish there was a subtitle option and I need to figure out if there's a way to tune up the graphics (kinda blocky looking).

Besides this, I'm still eagerly anticipating Patapon and I'll probably get Crisis Core when it comes out. Further...I just saw this recently. And yes, I'm DEFINITELY getting it, regardless of how good or bad the critics say it is.