[John Reynolds]

They're selling Pirates! for $40, Tribes: Vengeance for $28, Vampires: Bloodlines for $33, Rome: Total War for $35, and the Painkiller exp pack for $18. They charge $6 shipping for 1-3 games so I'll have to pick up Vampires, Tribes, and Battle Out of Hell. A buddy gave me a $50 gift certificate for my birthday so I'll pick up Pirates! at EBs with it.

So many games, so little time. :?

[RussSchultz]

Speaking of Electronics Boutique: the one in the mall near my house seems like its going all console. Or at least all console except a small display case.

[Xeno]

That's odd I buy all my PC games at EB and there's one sid eof the store dedicated to PC, albeit they're ridiculously over priced

[Tim Murray]

Newegg often has some pretty good game prices.

Speaking of Vampires, you'll cry when you get to the pump 118a puzzle and its absolute stupidity.

[BrynS]

Originally Posted by The Baron

...Speaking of Vampires, you'll cry when you get to the pump 118a puzzle and its absolute stupidity.

I've just read Jakub's review over at Firingsquad. He mentions that there's a part in the sewer's that goes on for ever -- is it Airboat (HL2) long or worse? At least the Airboat section looked impressive and was fun to play.


BrynS

[101998]

Originally Posted by BrynS

I've just read Jakub's review over at Firingsquad. He mentions that there's a part in the sewer's that goes on for ever -- is it Airboat (HL2) long or worse? At least the Airboat section looked impressive and was fun to play.


BrynS

I didn't think it was that bad. The pump thing was really easy I thought, my problem with that whole level is I didn't notice each section was numbered so I kept getting turned around and couldn't figure out which way to go. When I played through the second time I was through the whole area in 15-20 minutes.

[Tim Murray]

Originally Posted by BrynS

I've just read Jakub's review over at Firingsquad. He mentions that there's a part in the sewer's that goes on for ever -- is it Airboat (HL2) long or worse? At least the Airboat section looked impressive and was fun to play.


BrynS

It's not that bad. The minibosses (who then magically become REGULAR ENEMIES, GARGH) are cool, but tough. Bring a lot of blood packs with you (well, if you're a Ventrue like me, cause rats are no good. Nosferatu should have no problem at all.). It goes on for a while, but sneaking and some careful use of heavy firepower will win the day (or the use of Suicide. god, that spell rocks.).

finding the keycard isn't hard. the hard part is figuring out that you have to turn off the pump, let the resevoir empty, and then turn it on and RUN LIKE HELL (yes, like a Gainward card) into the pipe. the problems come when you get stuck and such, which can happen if you're right on the edge between getting in the resevoir. it's frustrating.

but Chinatown, thus far, is very cool. just found Barabbus.

[BrynS]

Thanks for the info I don't have much free time at the moment, so I'll probably try and pick it up after Christmas.

I was looking forward to playing LOTR: Battle For Middle Earth, but have been picking up quite a few bad vibes from other forums/reviews. What are the chances of EA releasing a playable demo in the next few weeks? One can only hope!


BrynS

[John Reynolds]

Originally Posted by BrynS

Thanks for the info I don't have much free time at the moment, so I'll probably try and pick it up after Christmas.

I was looking forward to playing LOTR: Battle For Middle Earth, but have been picking up quite a few bad vibes from other forums/reviews. What are the chances of EA releasing a playable demo in the next few weeks? One can only hope!


BrynS

Where? I've been looking forward to BfME quite a bit too.

[BrynS]

Originally Posted by John Reynolds

Where? I've been looking forward to BfME quite a bit too.

Well, admittedly my concerns based on the little I have heard so far may be premature, but given the hype surrounding this title, some of the bad news might just be a case of sour grapes or it could be valid.

I'll direct you to these two threads:
Overclockers UK Forums
PC Gamer UK Forums

Basically, it's been reviewed in the latest UK PC Gamer and only received 73%. I haven't read the review, but apparently the reviewer wasn't very impressed with the AI and essentially thought that the game was only "average." I used to subscribe to PC Gamer, but haven't for about 18 months, so I'm not up-to-date with the current feel and bias of the magazine. I used to find the magazine was generally quite an irreverant read and most of the reviewers I felt were mostly fair, although I'm sure there's an element present of appeasing large publishers with slightly less critical (read: glowing) reviews at times, however they did savage the odd high profile game occasionally if it merited such treatment. I did feel that HL2 "review" which appeared about three months ago went too far and was a bit too gushing, but life goes on.

A lot of the guys at OcUK though seem to prefer PC Zone, which I haven't read for ages and apparently they gave LOTR:BFME 91% So who knows? It's just that PC Zone is a bit of an unknown quantity to me and depending on who the reviewer was at PC Gamer, I may or may not be inclined to agree with him/her.

A couple of guys who have obviously read the review have chimed in as well, but there's also the concern mentioned by one of the OcUK'ers about EA's support record vis a vis C&C Generals and previous games -- which I can attest to, waiting for promised patches, etc. The fact that MOHPA doesn't seem to be drawing much attention either is also a bit disconcerting.

I think I'll be waiting for initial gamer's reaction's once they have the full game and probably (hopefully) a playable demo before purchasing.


BrynS

[John Reynolds]

Ended up ordering Battle Out of Hell, Vampires, and Pacific Fighters (need the latter for SimHQ testing). I'm going to break my EQ2 addiction over the weekend to play through the Painkiller add-on. Best shooter of the year, IMO.

[Pete]

They also had RCT3 for $25 and HL2 for $35 in recent 48-hour (or less?) sales. Great prices, especially with the new $2 Dirt Cheap shipping (aka, USPS Media Mail).

I ordered HL2 w/Dirt Cheap plus insurance for $38 total, but that sucker's taking forever to get here. /me shakes fist at Media Mail

[John Reynolds]

Yeah, I had to wait for Battle Out of Hell to no longer be listed as a pre-order, so I couldn't place my order until Wednesday night. But the package arrived Friday morning using Gogamer's $6 for 1-3 games 2-day FedEx deal. They also threw in free copy of Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood, which looks like a medieval Commando-style game.

[Pete]

Robin Hood was fairly well-reviewed, IIRC. Yeah, ordering more than one game makes regular "this year" delivery a virtual bargain. I just got the one game, tho, and my stinginess got the better of me. I guess five business days isn't an egregious wait....

[John Reynolds]

Heh, the 2nd CD for Vampires is bad. Can't install the game, can't copy the files to my hard drive and install from there either. Grrrr. . . .

[Pete]

It would appear they didn't throw in Robin Hood for nothing. Give it a go while you wait for the replacement.

[hovz]

maybe if u guys dodnt spend ur money on every crap game developers wouldnt make so many of them.

[Pete]

Yeah, that'll stop EA. You read the reviews for the latest 007 game?

And, er, how do crap games relate to crap CD pressing? :P

[John Reynolds]

Originally Posted by Pete

Yeah, that'll stop EA. You read the reviews for the latest 007 game?

And, er, how do crap games relate to crap CD pressing? :P

I was sort of hoping he was imitating someone's loony logic from the warez thread.

[hovz]

just makes me curious how you all wonder why theres so few good pc games out when you buy up every half ass game a developer puts out as long as it is a known franchise.

[John Reynolds]

OK, question time: what's half-assed about Vampires, the PK add-on, or Pacific Fighters? I could see the point of your angst if I'd bought the latest Sims expansion or yet another WW2 shooter that uses the Quake 3 engine.

[hovz]

a boring addon to a boring game. money well spent. a crappy console port of a mediocre game. more money well spent. cant comment on pacific fighters as of yet.

[John Reynolds]

I rate PK as shooter of the year over HL2 and Doom 3, so, yes, it's money very well spent.

Vampires is not a console port.

Your logic is that only the very best should be consummed. That's so narrow-minded and disregarding of the reality of varying tastes for different genres and what constitutes quality in the first place that it's not worth arguing over. Why don't you find another MMORPG thread to troll instead.

[ZoinKs!]

Originally Posted by hovz

just makes me curious how you all wonder why theres so few good pc games out when you buy up every half ass game a developer puts out as long as it is a known franchise.

Hmmm, my big problem is there are too many good games; I have neither money nor time for all of them.

A fellow could have worse problems. :P