I started playing "Blue Shift", the HL1 expansion everyone says it's crap. Considering you get it pretty much for free these days (I did) it's a decent mod. No new weapons or enemies which is disappointing but as I was prepared to expect the worst the game has turned out to be quite OK!

I loved Blue Shift, 'cause it was a great game, and you got the new weapons pack.

Beat it in 4 hours though...

Dead rising = best game EVER.

That is all.

(go find the excavator. NOW.)

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www.button-masher.net

13 days to go til it hits the UK's shores.

...13 days too long :sad:

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Well in the mean time try this one:

Zombie City Tactics

One of the simplest graphics I've seen in a long time but hurray for gameplay!

Recently played (or at least tried to) Aces High... I crashed into the ground shortly after the few times I was able to figure out how to take off. You have to actively try to learn how to play that game, it's not very intuitive. There's unlimited free offline practice and 8-player online, but to play the game in the real servers you have to subscribe. It looks like a neat game, but I don't have an awesome joystick which is basically the ideal way to play a flight sim. I thought my USB'd Xbox controller might work pretty good... it doesn't really...

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o

Yeah, my joystick died a while ago and I havent been able to play any proper flight sims for ages :sad: I've tried fixing it but I couldnt figure out how to open it without breaking it.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

I recently reinstalled Starcraft and the Brood War expansion, because for some reason I wanted to play as Zerg. Then I realized I never completed the Brood War singleplayer campaign, and so I started that.

Despite how old it is, I would have to say it's still my favorite RTS, at least in terms of mutliplayer fun. The units are just so classic and satisfying to use, the voiceacting is perfect, the sound effects are done so well that they bring the old graphics to life. And even now, I don't consider the game to be ugly.

I wonder if people still play this game on Battlenet...

Starcraft pwns. BW even moreso. I need to install that game, I've got the original discs lurking somewhere, as well as a massive strategy guide.

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o

I agree, Starcraft is a true classic.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

Starcraft pwns that much is true. Recently played: Savage

BTW: Barons post was the 666th post in this thread.

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''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires

WOO! Remember the theorised 6/6/06 apocalypse? Who believed in that? Come one, show of hands, don't be shy. You were WRONG! I know someone who was telling me about how 6/6/06 was gonna be the end of the world and the day of reckoning and all that bulls**t back in November 2005, the first time I saw him after 6/6/06 I was like "You were WRONG!" good times. It was the same thing with Y2K, I just didn't appreciate in-your-face humor back then so I didn't rub it in people's faces when they emerged from their bomb shelters or whatever.

lolol apocalypse kekeke.

---

o

Y2K did mess up my 486, but my PIII was just fine. :smile: The 486 decided that it was the year 1985. :razz:

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''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires

Windows XP did the Y2K bug to me recently. But it wasn't the year 2000. It just had a problem with the online time synchronization and put me back to 1980

Been playing MK: Deception on my Xbox, goofing around with MK: Trilogy on my PSX and working on Dungeon Siege.

Well here in the UK we've just got Dead Rising, and as expected, it was worth the wait. I've got my niggles with it, but it really can't be stressed enough that this game is one of the first that genuinely couldn't have been done on earlier generation consoles. Or at least, not so damn well.

After playing the demo I kinda thought that this was gonna be an easy game, but I'm actually finding it completely the opposite. While in the demo you could run around and kill each and every zombie, in the full game I tend to feel genuinely overrun and under threat. Add to this the fact you are almost always escorting survivors, and the game presents a real challenge. Escorting can at times feel like a chore (sometimes the AI has...issues - whether its simply badly done or done to make things less predictable isn't so clear) but it really changes the gameplay from that seen in the solo demo, and it changes it for the better (at least in terms of long term appeal). My only concern is that I often feel like being too much of a perfectionist - letting myself die if one of the people I'm leading to safety dies, even if it means redoing fairly large sections. While I think everybody is gonna feel that way a little, with this style of game you can't, or at least shouldn't, feel so compelled to get everything right.

So yeah, if you have a 360, this game is an essential purchase. If you don't have a 360, and are a fan of action games, a 360 plus this game is an essential purchase. Strong contender for game of the system so far :smile:

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

My pre-ordered copy came in the other day, and damned if this game isn't awesome. I hadn't played the demo, so I wasn't totally sure what it was going to be like. The graphics are one of the many things that really impressed me. I was expecting something along the lines of GTA: SA with a bit more detail, but the environments, models, characters and effects are all excellent. The melee combat is fantastic, and the mower, the only vehicle I've come across so far is hilarious. Having to take pics too adds another whole element to the game and can be quite a fun challenge in between cracking skulls.

The only issues I've had so far are with the controller setup and aiming weapons. The controls seem really odd, they don't use a configuration you might expect for the type of game, but in general they aren't too bad. The real issue is when the controls and aimed weapons combine. Having the movement thumbstick become the aim really feels un-natural, like the controls have suddenly been switched around. Also not being able to move when using an aimed weapon makes them a limited use weapon against zombies (you need some space around you to use them) and almost impossible against armed humans, since taking damage throws you out of aimed view, and you can't dodge whilst in aim view. Taking on that crazy mexican guy in the foodcourt took me ages simply because everytime I lined up a shot he'd shoot me and I'd loose a chunk of health and my aim.

But besides those issues the game is shaping up to be an incredible experience. Highly recommended.

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Ham and Jam Contributor
http://www.hamandjam.org

'Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!'

I played through X-Com UFO Defense!

Man, this took me 5 months on the easiest setting. I didn't play everyday but at least once a week for 5 months! It's a shame games of this caliber aren't made anymore.

I just gave Condemned: Criminal Origins a shot. (it's out on PC now)

It's really unlike any first person game I've played before. It's all based around a series of murders. It starts out with you arriving at the scene (you're a detective, that's kind of important) and you do some "forensic" stuff then go searching through the building because there's cause to believe the killer is still there. The building is condemned (surprise) and from there, you lose your gun and get attacked by crack heads.

A unique aspect of the game, which I thought was really nice, is that you can only carry one weapon (plus a tazer which you have at all times). The weapons range from firearms (rarely) to makeshift weapons, like rebarb, 2x4s with nails, and lead pipes.

To sum up the game: you run through condemned buildings getting attacked by drug addicts. You kill them. That's the game. But it's pretty cool. You stop every once in awhile to get evidence for these series of crimes.

Other than that, I'm not aware of any real pressing issues with the plot. There really isn't one besides all that.

The game is made by Monolith and was released on the Xbox 360 last year. It's been rated as "best 360 horror action game 2005" by a few groups. It isn't half bad even though it sounds mundane. It is not a standard shooter by any means (in fact shooting is the thing you do least in the game)

The game is also built on the Fear engine (very obvious once you see the menu!) and it looks flipping fantastic. I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I loaded this thing up.

this should give you a feel for it, google for more shots. But these don't really compare to the actual in game stuff.

Clearly the visual style has "film-noir/hard boiled cop/psycho thriller" painted all over it and without that I doubt the game would work well.

Anyway, it's about $30 on PC and $40 on 360 ... the PC one looks a bit better and it's a first person game ... and it's cheaper ... check it out if you have some extra cash. This is really one of those games that'd you'd feel satisfied buying from a bargain bin. It's got about the same caliber as Cold Fear, I'd say. Worth money ... but not too much. But definitely worth owning.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Sounds cool.

But how many "360 horror action games" were actually made in 2005 to make them a seperate category?

In the UK Condemned is one of the most regularly reduced price games on the 360 - you can normally get it for about ?20 if you look around a bit. Well worth picking up at that price, as Crono said.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

I picked up a couple DS games the other day: Metroid Prime Hunters (finally) and Starfox Command.

I only ran through Metroid, so I don't really have a solid opinion of it yet.

Starfox, though, is awesome. It is definitely worth getting. The only bad part of the game is the dialog and "cut scenes". But those can be skipped.

The controls are very intuitive for combat fighting, everything is controlled by the stylus except normal firing, that is ... any other button. The only down side to that is it's a little difficult to hold the DS and fire with one hand, but it isn't too much of an inconvienence.

The game is not set up like previous SF games. The main section has you on a battlefield, along the lines of Fire Emblem or any other tactics game. You can only move a character a certain distance (drawn by the stylus) and you get into combat by intersecting enemies. It's turn based, everyone makes their moves then "turn is over" and the moves are carried out. I, personally, like this aspect. It gives a strategy element to the game that is very refreshing. The turns, however, are limited. You can gain more by freeing certain areas and what not.

It also has download play and wifi play. I really don't have much time, so sorry for the breif descriptions. If you're interested, go look it up online.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

People, get the DEFCON demo on steam! This game is simply amazing in a creepy yet stylish way. The demo for some reason is almost identical to the full version and I'm almost feeling bad for playing it for free (I'm close to break my anti-online-payment rule and buy the whole thing (its only 15$)).

See you on the battlefield.

I have disavowed videogames for the year, but maybe I'll check it out this summer.

Saw a guy at work playing Defcon today, and it seemed cool. From what he was saying at the little demonstration he gave, I figured it would make a cool multiplayer game with mates but a really rather poor single player investment. With no sort of scenario variety (other than playing as each of the 6 continents), storyline, or significant gameplay depth, I don't see me playing this more than once or twice against the computer. If I move into a flat with a bunch of people who would be up for giving this a whirl I'd definately buy it, but until then I'm gonna skip over it.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

I didn't care for the Defcon demo.

If I played a good MP match, I'm sure it'd change my mind.

The mouse hitting the edges scrolling pissed me off the no end, because half the buttons I needed to click were against the edge. Until I got the hang of the shortcut keys it was very aggravating.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I've been playing MAME games, and am working on the design of a "thin" machine, with a flat-panel screen and regular coin-door and joystick layout (going for a 4-man).

Been playing a lot of Mortal Kombat (couple diff. versions), Killer Instinct, Simpsons, X-men and Battletoads. As well as a big mix of others I enjoyed back in the day.

I've been playing MAME games, and am working on the design of a "thin" machine, with a flat-panel screen and regular coin-door and joystick layout (going for a 4-man).

Been playing a lot of Mortal Kombat (couple diff. versions), Killer Instinct, Simpsons, X-men and Battletoads. As well as a big mix of others I enjoyed back in the day.

I've wanted to make one of those for a very, very, long time.

I remember reading a snippet out of a book on it once. It actually talked about how to make a coin recepticle and to only allow play (through an x86 computer running Windows) after payment, which you define, has been recieved. It was pretty sweet.

It also went into how to make joysticks with whatever feature.

Are you building your own 'sticks? Or buying them? If you're buying I'd be interested to know how much they cost there, because they cost oodles here. (hundreds)

X-Men, 6 player (yes there was a six player version!) would be awesome.

Check out Mars Matrix if you get a chance. It's a top down shooter, but fairly recent and runs on Mame. Badass.

/ramble

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I have the file for the 6-man, but it's intended for 2-screens, which is sorta over my budget and would be a messed up ratio for all the other games.

I've been looking into all the parts, my dad's a carpenter so the cabinet is a snap, no worries there, I'm not going to go balls-to-the-walls with the extra trackballs and other specialty sticks, just standard joystick + a "generic" layout of probably 6 buttons and a 7th special one, that would cover just about anything. From what I was looking at the sticks themselves are approx. $12.50-25USD and the buttons are about $1.50 a pop. And while I'll make the coin-door functional, I'll probably stick another button beside the "player join" ones with a 'coin' function tied to it.

So I'll be building the layout and everything, as well I'll probably get some lexan and make my own marquees for under the controls and such.

I'm currently just playing it on my own PC with a X360 controller and it's mighty fine, but I have a lot of not-too-old other computers kicking around that'll be made into the MAMEinator.

Are you going to have any other emulators running on it?

Oh yeah, look into including Super Mario War. That would be incredibly fun in arcade form.

It'd be very cool if you had another arcade unit, and both the computers inside used wireless, so you could play the games on the net, or over a lan, between the computers. Reconnect some LEDs to show wireless signal somewhere on the MAMEINATOR.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Yeah, gonna have basically anything running on it, so SNES, NES and whatever anyone wants to throw at it.

Anyone played Company of Heroes? I can't tell if it's worth spending my money on yet.

I knew someone who was working on that game, and all the reviews I've seen of it were quite positive. If you liked 40K Dawn of War it's made by the same guys, so chances are you'd like it.

Despite having not played it, I'm gonna wager that yes, it's worth spending money on :smile:

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

...wow...

I loved 40k, and I've only heard incredible things about this game... looks like I have to make a withdrawal...

can't wait for the full version of dark messiah

Dark Messiah? I saw that in a store today.

Not available for purchase, you didn't :smile: It's due out at the end of this month though, so it wouldn't surprise me if they have promo boxes out.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

I've just started playing the Defcon demo. I'm wondering if its worth the ?10 to buy it or not. The demo suggests that even the full game is a bit limited and reptitive. Having said all that, I've really enjoyed the first couple of games of Defcon that I've played.

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My site

Defcon is simplistic and slow, and yet I find it insanely fun. I'm not going to start up Steam for a while now, since that game stole most of my sleep for about a week :/

I'd get the full version if I had income.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

Defcon's great. I don't buy much more than one game a year and considered making this my second. Right now, the demo's enough for me, though.

I often have a guilty conscience about not buying alternative titles which I consider to be very cool and worthy but usually have enough of after a quick round of the demo. If I ever start feeling more secure about internet purchases I'll probably get Darwina, Ragdoll Kung Fu Defcon via steam. You can get the three titles for the price of one blockbuster release. That's not really a money issue.

Okami rules..

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f**k Fun maps!

Got the CE for Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, certainly not game of the year material, but lots of brainless fun for small periods of time. Also finally got a hold of a WoW collector's edition and to break it in I've started a druid, but instead of last time where I spent a ton of time doing a whole lot of everything I have a specific focus and am definitely not going to prioritize the game over anything else.

Now just waiting for FFXII, Guild Wars: Nightfall and WoW: Burning Crusade.

Anybody remember Scorched Earth?
I certainly do, I played that game a lot when I was younger.

Anyway, the point of this post...
A guy has made a 3D version of this game!
Scorched 3D, its pretty much the same as the original gameplay wise, same weapons and even some of the original sound effects, just set in a 3D landscape.They have also included LAN and Online play!

Its still as fun as I remember it :biggrin:

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SourDough2.0 - With Strawberry Jam

We played the original in DOSBox when I was in college. We played it too much.

I was too hungover to do homework (or even read the instructions on my bottle of Aleve) this Sunday, so I dug out FFX and popped it into my suitemates PS2.

I've played through to Thunder Plains before, but never beaten the game. This second time around it was a real bitch to be unable to skip super lengthy cutscenes. I honestly spent more time mashing the X button trying to skip dialogue than in actively playing. I mean, the story is the major selling point of FF games, but when you actually already know what's happened and you just want to catch up to where you were before, having the narrative forced on you is a real bitch.

But anyway, playing FFX whetted my appetite and considering FFXII just came out I figured I'd do some research. Gamespot gave it a 9.0, and IGN gave it a 9.5 and I watched a fair amount of youtube gameplay videos and browsed through some screenshots, as well as watched the trailer on the official site.

So yeah, I don't know when I'll have the time to play the game (I'm thinking Thanksgiving break which is 5 days of freedom) but I just ordered FFXII.

Anyone else grab it or plan to? I'm not a die hard fan by any means, having played about halfway through FFVII, FFIX and FFX and never finishing any of them, but I'm attracted by the new real time battles and the gambit system. Not to mention the fact that this game is set in the same universe as Vagrant Story, and has the same art direction. Additionally, British and Scottish voice acting seems like a nice touch :smile:



Yeah, I'm a little excited about it.

It's amazing what they're still squeezing out of the PS2.

I've thought about getting FFXII sometime, because generally the FF games are, at the least, enjoyable RPGs. But the playable MOVIE that was FFX was ridiculous. I didn't make it past the opening, and no, I don't care what happens. If it has anything like that, then no, I'm not getting it.

Also, be wary of people's ratings on FF games, critics tend to thing overly long dramatic-unskipable-cinematics are an "involving" thing. Take a look at their review of MGS2, they think it's the best one yet. (The plot is good ... but too many cinematics!)

So, be wary. I am. That and I'll probably wait until it's everywhere used for like $8. :biggrin:

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I've been playing FFXII the last two days, and I love it (so far).

I was annoyed with FFX for the same reasons, I didn't touch X-2 fearing it was more of the same. There are some cutscenes here but they aren't as long and drawn out, and you can skip most of them if you want. The story in XII is involving. This one is much darker, alot of death and sorrow, alot of twists. Boring at times, think star wars episode I-III... diplomacy, treachery and then fighting. Oh, and the voice acting is MUCH better here, it would have to be.

The combat system is well done, no more random encounters, because you see the enemy well ahead of time. The licensing system is kind of annoying, but once you get used to it, there's alot of options for each character to pursue. Its like the "sphere grid" from X in many ways.

The "gambit" system is a new innovation, but you can always turn them off completely and fight oldschool. Essentially its like an AI code, telling one character to automatically cure or give potion to someone if their HP is below say 70%, auto-attacking the leader's target, giving eyedrops to someone that is blinded etc, and you control the setup on each character. I usually turn them off in boss battles, just in case.

I loved FFVII for the freedom after you get to the surface, I'm still waiting for that freedom in this game. I want to fly an airship and go where I want... I don't know the possibilities yet. So far I'm pleased with it, but that may change.

Negatives>
Some of the dungeons go on forever before getting to a save point.
The graphics (in-game) aren't quite what I was hoping for.
The same linear play for the most part.

I hadn't heard anything about FFXII being in the same universe as Vagrant Story until quite recently. I mean, obviously the art direction is more VS than typical Final Fantasy, and quite a few of the key team members worked on VS, but it wasn't until a recent interview that I read one of the developers clearly state it is in the same universe.

To be honest, I'm not really happy about hearing that. While the art style is very reminiscent and I'm very happy about that, nothing about the world shown in the trailers made me think VS. Flying Airships? Chocobo Knights? I'm "down with that" as far as an FF game is concerned, but for me, the VS universe was all about traditional fantasy - swords and sorcery, dungeons and dragons - not the sci-fi fantasy of the FF series. Really, I'd rather the two stayed very very seperate.

That said, I'm really looking forward to FFXII. Rule of thumb; I enjoy Final Fantasy games, and while those I have played have entertained me to varying degrees, they have always stood out as some of the best and most memorable games I've played.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

I started playing it last night, enjoyed it a lot so far. (FFXII)