What are you playing now? [2007-2018]

[Moloch]

Dragon Age Origins: The Dark Spawn Chronicles
It's what I expected, good way to kill a few hours.
I have one major complaint tho- the performance was extremely poor, major lag and pausing going on, I had to turn the graphic detail all the way down.
Pretty weird since the original game plays as it should for a game that looks like it does...

 

[aaronspink]

Alpha Protocol

Actually Alpha Protocol so far has been a very good game. Good story, interesting dialog. Its what ME/ME2 should of been quality wise for story and dialog and it doesn't have all the nasty annoyances and blatant compromises of ME2/ME. Certainly much less of a shooter than ME/ME2.

Reading some of the reviews though is just hilarious. Its obvious that some journos have no idea about any type of game except GoW/Halo/etc. The complaints about the cover system are also hilarious. So far everything has worked fine for me.

Been playing mostly stealth/pistol for the most part and when played that way, AP is more of a Splinter Cell game in many ways than the latest Splinter Cell game was.

 

[Davros]

Ive read a few alpha protocol reviews and they all scream stay away

 

[aaronspink]

Ive read a few alpha protocol reviews and they all scream stay away

The reviews and experience with the game to not align. Plenty of reviews have written that pistols are useless when in fact they are by far the best weapon in the game. Etc. I think the retards ended up reviewing the game. Yes, the game isn't a simple FPS. Yes, the game has depth. No, you can't just go in guns blazing. No, the lock picking, security bypassing, and hacking aren't easy. They actually require intelligence. No, you don't HAVE to take the skill in order be able to solve the hardest ones in the game, just good spacial skills and fast reaction. Honestly, the hacking, lock picking, and security bypassing implementation in AP is the best I've ever seen. And yes, it does get hard. BFD.

Its much more of a PC game than a console game quite honestly. Where as ME/ME2 catered to the console crowd to the detriment of the PC crown, AP effectively does the reverse. Honestly, I think its a future classic along the lines of FO/FO2 where a lot of people don't understand it, but watered down versions will be highly successful in the future.

The dialog system puts the current bioware system to shame as well. Oh and the story is well written AND re-playable unlike ME/ME2.

 

[KimB]

The reviews and experience with the game to not align. Plenty of reviews have written that pistols are useless when in fact they are by far the best weapon in the game. Etc. I think the retards ended up reviewing the game. Yes, the game isn't a simple FPS. Yes, the game has depth. No, you can't just go in guns blazing. No, the lock picking, security bypassing, and hacking aren't easy. They actually require intelligence. No, you don't HAVE to take the skill in order be able to solve the hardest ones in the game, just good spacial skills and fast reaction. Honestly, the hacking, lock picking, and security bypassing implementation in AP is the best I've ever seen. And yes, it does get hard. BFD.

The primary complaints I saw were that the AI is complete shit and the characters are all uninteresting stereotypes.

 

[neliz]

The primary complaints I saw were that the AI is complete shit and the characters are all uninteresting stereotypes.

That's what every good review will tell you, also that the graphics are mediocre (very low poly models all around.) but that shouldn't distract from the overall gameplay that AP brings and should be enjoyed as such.

Reviews I've read focus on gameplay (but note the minuses) and tell me it's an enjoyable game, preferably on the PC.

 

[aaronspink]

The primary complaints I saw were that the AI is complete shit and the characters are all uninteresting stereotypes.

All characters are pretty much stereotypes in most game. The character in AP aren't revolutionary but they do have more character than most games and they change a whole lot more based on you actions than most games as well. Its worth playing. Overall its got one of the best stories of any game I've played in a while. Then again, review sites wanted to make love with ME2 and that was a POS.

 

[John Reynolds]

There's plenty of end user feedback on the major gaming sites that are leaning heavily toward the negative. Bad production values, mediocre graphics, bad controls on the PC, horrible animations, etc.

 

[Kyyla]

There's plenty of end user feedback on the major gaming sites that are leaning heavily toward the negative. Bad production values, mediocre graphics, bad controls on the PC, horrible animations, etc.

Still, I'd like to hear more from the users of this forum. The possibility of a ME done right is too sweet to miss

 

[aaronspink]

There's plenty of end user feedback on the major gaming sites that are leaning heavily toward the negative. Bad production values, mediocre graphics, bad controls on the PC, horrible animations, etc.

Yeah, and there were plenty of people who thought ME2 was the bees knees when it was pretty much sewage.

AP isn't an FPS. Its a first person RPG. A lot of people seem to be under the mistaken impression that it is supposed to be GoW5.

 

[aaronspink]

Still, I'd like to hear more from the users of this forum. The possibility of a ME done right is too sweet to miss

The RPG aspect are certainly better than ME. The combat/fps parts are on the same level. The dialog system is certainly better.

 

[L233]

There's plenty of end user feedback on the major gaming sites that are leaning heavily toward the negative. Bad production values, mediocre graphics, bad controls on the PC, horrible animations, etc.

That's merely the good old Internet nerd lynch mob. They smell blood and go batshit on a game.

Alpha Protocol has its flaws but I enjoyed it quite a bit. The criticisms are IMO completely blown out of proportion. Gaming sites can really fuck off and die for all I care, we're talking about the same retard reviewers here who made Oblivion the highest rated "RPG" ever.

I especially enjoyed the dialogue system in Alpha Protocol. It's similar to Mass Effect but where Bioware has turned their initial idea (which was originally supposed to be similar to what Obisdian has delivered in AP) into a stupid Pick-Red-Or-Blue-And-Get-Points idiocy, AP actually makes dialogue interaction interesting. That being said, Alpha Protocol wastes a lot of potential but it's still very much worth the €29 I paid for it.

 

[neliz]

Alpha Protocol has its flaws but I enjoyed it quite a bit. The criticisms are IMO completely blown out of proportion. Gaming sites can really fuck off and die for all I care, we're talking about the same retard reviewers here who made Oblivion the highest rated "RPG" ever.

Dutch PowerUnlimited.nl said in their review that they were afraid that not all reviewers would explore the possibilities of the game and give the game several run-throughs to see the 32 different outcomes of this game. Though, in this day and age, you get minus points for having wheels that consist of six polys they still rate it an 84. Saying that Run'n'Gun gets you through the game in 18 hours and stealth requires 34 hours. all leading to 32 different possible endings.

 

[aaronspink]

Dutch PowerUnlimited.nl said in their review that they were afraid that not all revieweres would explore the possibilities of the game and give the game several run-throughs to see the 32 different outcomes of this game. Though, in this day and age, you get minus points for having wheels that consist of six polys they still rate it an 84. Saying that Run'n'Gun gets you through the game in 18 hours and stealth requires 34 hours. all leading to 32 different possible endings.

yeah, on my second play through. Taking different paths, the branching is pretty incredible. Lets you do some pretty incredible things like instead of killing a terrorist leader, you can turn him into your own personal asset. Your choices have consequences in AP in ways that I really haven't seen in a LONG time.

 

[L233]

Dutch PowerUnlimited.nl said in their review that they were afraid that not all reviewers would explore the possibilities of the game and give the game several run-throughs to see the 32 different outcomes of this game.

It would have been nice if reviews acknowledged that the game gets some very essential RPG ingredients really right: dialogue and decision and consequences. Of course, non of these even exist in, say, Oblivion. Mass Effect isn't really big on the consequences of decisions but that doesn't keep them from celebrating these games as must-have RPGs titles, while in reality, they don't even meet minimum qualifications for a RPG. It's like recommending pork schnitzel as kosher food.

Gamespot actually rated AP lower than they did the catastrophic Dungeon Lords a few years ago. It's a joke, really. AP is a solid game. It has flaws, but nothing game-breaking. It's fun. It get some things right. It's runs stable and performance is OK, too. There is nothing fundamentally broken in this game. Some of the reviews make it sound like the game is a complete disaster. It's not. It's actually quite good.

Though, in this day and age, you get minus points for having wheels that consist of six polys

Yet, I've never read much criticism of the incredibly ugly hair in Mass Effect and Dragon Age, something that negatively impacts the visual quality in these dialogue-driven games much more severely than a bunch of low-poly objects do inAP.

 

[Kyyla]

Ok that's enough for me. I'll buy it when I have some more money.

 

[aaronspink]

It would have been nice if reviews acknowledged that the game gets some very essential RPG ingredients really right: dialogue and decision and consequences. Of course, non of these even exist in, say, Oblivion. Mass Effect isn't really big on the consequences of decisions but that doesn't keep them from celebrating these games as must-have RPGs titles, while in reality, they don't even meet minimum qualifications for a RPG. It's like recommending pork schnitzel as kosher food.

I really think we need another category of games for things like Oblivion and many MMOs. They really aren't cRPG in the sense that they aren't about the dialog, decisions, or consequences but about stat min/maxing and collecting. a lot of so called cRPGs have really no relation to RPGs which were much more about the interaction/dialog, decisions, and the most twisted possible consequences a person could figure out.

 

[neliz]

I really think we need another category of games for things like Oblivion and many MMOs. They really aren't cRPG in the sense that they aren't about the dialog, decisions, or consequences but about stat min/maxing and collecting. a lot of so called cRPGs have really no relation to RPGs which were much more about the interaction/dialog, decisions, and the most twisted possible consequences a person could figure out.

I always think of the current RPG's like a team of people thinking about the best way to tweak the old Hero Quest system.

 

[L233]

I really think we need another category of games for things like Oblivion and many MMOs. They really aren't cRPG in the sense that they aren't about the dialog, decisions, or consequences but about stat min/maxing and collecting. a lot of so called cRPGs have really no relation to RPGs which were much more about the interaction/dialog, decisions, and the most twisted possible consequences a person could figure out.

Well, there have always been RPGs that weren't about decision making and dialogue. Remember the dungeon crawlers? Dungeon Master, Black Crypt, Lands of Lore, Wizardry, Might and Magic etc.?

Maybe the most important thing that makes a game a RPG ist what I like to refer to as "avatar-mediated action". Not YOUR skill determines the outcome of an action, it's the stats of your character. Of course, the lines are blurry and I guess I'm happy if stats just have a major impact - but in games like Oblivion, there's not even that. In fact, in Oblivion, developing your character is completely optional (you can beat the game at level 2 with starter skills) and in ME2 you can buy a bunch of extra skills and that's it (ME1 still qualifies as a RPG in my book, ME2 not - even Deus Ex was more of a RPG than ME2).

Oblivion is quite literally an Open World Action-Adventure. ME2 is an interactive movie with some shooter levels.

In Alpha Protocol, your equipment stats and skills matter a lot. Some reviews critized the stealth gameplay as borderline broken - it's not. You just need the appropriate skills and equipment and it works great. Some people don't seem to grasp that in an RPG it's not enough to hit the sneak button in order to sneak successfully. Same with the shooting gameplay.

 

[Neb]

Aye so true how many reviewers cant even grasp light RPGs. Simplified games gets praised and deep games gets the boot becouse they cant grasp it since their mentality cant even peel the first complexity "layer". Kinda like pepu you need to peel of the banana skin for or they cry the banana tastes bitter becosue they bite it with da skin.

But Dragon Age was really good becouse it presented emotions in a very realistic manner and that reaches quite far apart from the rest that was very good bar some minor stuff.

Anyway saturday as usual. Got some fatties rolled up, dont keep me waiting.