There's nothing "Sleeper" about Indigo Prophecy. It's sold out at most retailers. But, if you want an uncut version find the non-US "Fahrenheit". The only difference is a sex scene.

It's a bit linear, but still an awesome game.

I'm looking forward to CoD2, personally, the demo is great: it's CoD with prettier graphics and f**king amazing particle effects. (The dust and smoke looks amazing, even on my aging GF4)

Friend of mine got Shadow and the Colossus yesterday. He wont shut up about it. :smile:
At least Sony can do something right. It seems ICO and SotC are prime examples of what ALL PS2 games should be like, which is just another little added evidence that a new console is not needed. But, whatever. Check it out.

I think I'm going to buy a black japanese import DS for four reasons (Only $10 more through my friendly Game Trader store:)):

Lunar Dragon Song
Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow
Mario and Luigi 2
New Mario Brothers

DROOL!

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Is "Indigo Prophecy" anything like Deus Ex? Sounds similar.

---

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

No. At least not in control scheme. Download the demo to check it out. It's pretty cool and is only the first scene of the game. And I think scene is the proper way to describe the way the game is set up.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

FEAR is a fantastic game; very scary, very tense, with the best combat
in the FPS genre by far. The ending came a lot quicker than I expected
though.

---

I Ain't Gettin' On No Plane, Foo'

Since I got home yesterday I've been playing DOD:S practically non-stop.

I really like Anzio, and Flash is pretty fun as an MG camping the side flags. I went like 50-15 doing that one round.

At first I really didn't like DoD:S. I felt like the hit
detection was bulls**t. Either that or they really f**ked with
the thompson's accuracies. I remember being able to kill 3 people
running out of the Axis archway from the far windows (yellow roofless
room). Now I'm hard pressed to kill anyone at range with the
thompson. I guess that puts it more into the CQB role. But
I miss being able to lone ranger it with my trusty thompson.

I guess now that I'm getting used to the new weapon feel, I'm starting
to really appreciate the detail and beauty of the maps. They're
simply amazing. I never want to map again when I look at
them. They frustrate me with their impeccable beauty.

It helps that I get to run on max settings at still get ~45 FPS. /brag

OK, frenchy lets play some!

I've read reviews of Quake 4, and so far it sounds pretty disappointing.

We'll have to wait a bit longer for another game that's on the same level as HL1 and HL2.

---

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

I'm playing Indigo Prophecy. Interactive plot-driven cinema games are the future, I say.

The game can be pretty cheesy and the controls suck, but it's a blast and very addicting.

I just bought Shadow of the Collosus as well. Haven't played it yet but really look forward to.

I jut played Quake 4 for a few minutes, and here's my initial impression...

I kinda like it, but I can't help but think my opinion of it is
kinda skewed after playing FEAR. In that game, the combat was
incredibly tense, unpredictable and exciting, and in Quake 4 the combat
amounts to little more than running through corridors and shooting
things that run at you. There's no real reason to crouch behind cover,
no leaning around corners...it all feels very tactless for a game that
puts focus on teams fighting other teams.

It's that very lack of tactical gameplay that makes the whole
team-orientated aspect of the game seem very one-dimensional...the only
reason you need team mates is because you can't kill all the enemies on
screen by yourself; there's no reason to fall back on team mates
besides extra firepower, so you can mow down wave after wave of enemy
grunt that occasionally side steps and runs at you. Sure, thre are
medics, but I didn't feel the need to take advantage of them. It's just
kinda boring. After seeing what FEAR could do with squad AI, it all
felt very deflated and one dimensional in Q4. It doesn't seem as
repetitive as Doom 3's combat system, but it certianly lacks the
tension and excitment D3 created sometimes.

Sure it's loud and pretty, but it doesn't have the same emotional bond
Doom 3 created (which, like it or loathe it, had a great immersive
atmosphere); the combination of silly music, over the top explosions,
mindless enemies and all the ripping off of Aliens (as well as the
stereotypical baddass marine types...must all commander-types
have that same voice? must the black guy always swear? must the
non-caucasian marines have a RREEEALLYY strong accent?) really
distanced me from what was going on around me; I just didn't care, and
had little reason to continue playing other than to see the next good
looking set piece.

So, get it because it's loud and pretty; that's about all I can say at
this point. Everything else bored me somewhat. Perhaps things pick up
later on, but this is what I think so far (I'm still early in the
game); not the best first impressions.

---

I Ain't Gettin' On No Plane, Foo'

I just played and finished an older game, The Greatest Escape. It was
actually quite nice as it's a diverse game that focusses mostly on
stealth and escaping prison camps, while there's a few combat missions
and some frantic driving/escaping scene's going on too.

Visually, it's ok, it does the job but it's not overall stunning. I
especially noticed a weak point of detail textures: they don't go well
on textures with different materials, and textures with sections that
have different directions. Especially noticeable on wood textures.

It has a limited amount of savegames per level and that took some time
to find out (wasn't fun the first time I found out I couldn't save
anymore) but it's not really hindering either - it actually keeps the
game from getting boring and simple. Ok, redoing a certain section over
and over again can get frustrating but then again, unlimited savegames
would definitely have made this game so much easier and less
interesting.

All in all, just a nice game with some really nice aspects and mostly
just fun to play. Some annoying things but overall, it was fun. :smile:

---

Create-ivity - a game development blog

I've read reviews of Quake 4, and so far it sounds pretty disappointing.
We'll have to wait a bit longer for another game that's on the same level as HL1 and HL2.

Yet there are already games that are better than both :smile:

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Bought Rome: Total War today. Played it for about 5 hours.

So far it seems like a combination of civilization and ground control (except much better than ground control).

I really like the polish and the voice overs. I especially like the pre-battle pep talks. They're truely cinematic.

The historic battles are fun, except I'm no good yet and I get whupped
(since they always put you between a rock and a hard place ... or
between hannibal and a big lake).

I'm pretty happy with this purchase. I still need to get my head
around the battle system though. I keep wanting to just select
all my troops and attack ground behind the enemy army. Too much
starcraft / wacraft in my blood i guess.

Another recent RTS game that's pretty awesome: Act of War. Don't buy it or anything, but check out the demo. Pretty sweet. But I do like the "through the ages" gameplay in Rise of Nations.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Just beat Quake 4 on Corporal difficulty. Must say it was quite a fun
game. Also caught a glimps of Andrew Weldon's name in the credits. :smile:

---

What the Snarkpitters listen to!

hey crono is Phantom Brave kind of like heroes of might and magic as far as the battles go

Heroes of Might and Magic is more or less a RTS-Tactics game. Phantom Brave is an RPG-Tactics game. Very different, to say the least.

Phantom Brave screen shots.

I'm looking forward to playing Sigma Star Saga on the GBA.

Actually, just for the hell of it, I'm going to list some games I want to play. See if anyone agrees. Some of them are out already though :sad:

-PC-
F.E.A.R.
Call of Duty 2
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood (Just because I hope they fixed some of the mechanics)
Hitman: Blood Money (Just another link in the chain)
TimeShift

-GBA-
Sigma Star Saga
Riviera
Final Fantasy IV
Gunstar Heroes
Metal Slug Advance

-GC-
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

-DS-
Lunar Dragon Song
New Super Mario Brothers
Mario and Luigi 2
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

-PS2-
Suikoden Tactics
Magna Carta: Tears of Blood
Wild Arms: Alter Code F
Wild Arms 4
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams
Tales of Legendia
Okami
Shadow of the Colossus
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (why not?)
Soul Calibur III (They're finally putting back in some Soul Blade like features)

Too many games and a lot are RPGs. I think I just listed how I'll spend four years of my life.

I was trying to decide which game to buy on Friday, FEAR or Quake 4. Unfortunately I make the mistake of buying FEAR. Sure FEAR's AI is intelligent?but after the 3rd or 4th time of seeing that girl or Paxton it wasn't scary at all and got very repetitive. Plus containing Paxton Fedal is your objective through the whole game and even though its reasonable to think so it's really quite annoying NEVER completing your objective.

After going through about 3/4s of the game I got bored and couldent play it anymore. So then the next day I wanted to see if I could try and return the game to Target by saying it wouldn't run on my computer but they wouldn't let me get anything else DAMN! so now I'm stuck with this sucky-ass game.

On that same day I did by Quake 4 but since I could'nt return FEAR I had spent over 100$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG! But anyway, when I fired up Q4 it was an?instant favorite. Not only are the graphics great but the maps are pretty diverse ranging from military compounds to medical buildings. But it also had the action and objective types that you'd find in a real world shooter such as COD only instead of Germans you have robo-guys.

The maps in Q4 were nothing less then breath taking. The sky box itself could?keep you staring for 3 minutes, the Sky's are even animated with flashing lights and planes flying!

So if you love aliens or alien technology and war shooters you will love Quake 4 I guarantee it

---

Yes I spell bad, but remimber Mighty are the stupid.

Check out my drawings at http://half-dude.deviantart.com/

Wow, you've a lot more than me on there Crono. Then again, half of
those aren't coming out in the UK or at least, most likely won't. I'll
do mine - short by comparison I think...

-PC-

F.E.A.R.

-PS2-

Shadow of the Colossus

Okami

Soul Calibur 3 (though I'm sceptical about having a 3rd in the same console gen - is there ENOUGH change to warrant it?)

-PSP-

Gripshift

SSX On Tour

Pursuit Force

Actually, I could list a dozen - it's my newest system so I've not picked up all the early games I wanted yet!

-Xbox-

Psychonauts (been delayed AGAIN to the end of November)

Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth

The 3 I particularly care about are Psychonauts, SotC, and Okami,
though it's annoying how GOD DAMN LONG we have to wait for them all in
the UK. Okami hasn't even been confirmed for the UK yet I don't think :sad:

---

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

half-dude said:
I was trying to decide which game to buy on Friday, FEAR or Quake 4.

I bought them both. Quake 4 looks a heck of a lot better than Fear, but Fear plays much better than Quake 4 (Fear still isn't of HL2's standard by any means.)

I found walking around checking out the visuals in Quake 4 much much more interesting than actually playing it and fighting the AI. Conversely, the opposite is true of Fear; the environments so far have been generic warehouses and so on, but the AI is a genuine challenge, finding new routes to you and flanking etc.

I wasn't really impressed by the scare factor or presentation in Fear though; it's been done lots of times before on console games.

Also, Quake 4 is far too easy imo; I chose the 3rd hardest skill level (out of 4) and it was a total walkover so restarted after half a dozen levels and chose the 2nd hardest skill level, but after about a dozen levels I still haven't come close to dying yet. I will be completing it, but only to check out the remaining environments.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Addicted to Morphine</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Bought Rome: Total War today.
</DIV></DIV>

Aha, welcome to one of my favourite games :wink:

some tips:

-generals gain both character traits and retinue aides depending on how you play. The retinue aides can be dragged to other generals. Generals with higher command (more stars) boost morale into the troops and thus are to be preferred to command your important battles.

-onagers are best to attack cities

-basic combat strategy: spears beat cavalery. keep your archers out of close combat. always try to fight from uphill. cavalery isnt good in woods.

-...

You will have tons of fun with this game once you get the hang of it. PM me if you want more info on something.

i bought the expansion pack, Barbarian Invasion last week. Atmospheric night-battles with torches!

I also bought Black & White 2. just started playing it, seems nice. i like how they created more structure in it. also really beautiful with detail on high.

---

These words are my diaries screaming out loud

Thanks for all the great tips BlisTer.

When in battles, I feel like most of my troops just bunch together and
only the ones on the fringes actually fight. Do I have to
manually move each seperate group to a different side when they fight?

What's the best way to tackle cavalry if you don't have pikeman?

I also started replaying Command and Conquer (the very first one) and
I'm on the eigth GDI mission (out of something like fourteen total?).

It's a great game, with so much personality (like when the infantry
start doing pushups while idle) and such a great soundtrack I can
overlook the one click interface and the lack of building cues and
double clicking to autoselect other troops of the same type and all the
other features that have since become RTS conventions.

a "unit" i.e. that cannot be divided in smaller groups will indeed fight in formation most of the time. so only the front line attacks. cavalery is an exception, they run through the enemy lines. If you havent got spearmen, fight them with cavalery. you can "stretch out" a unit into another rectangular form by dragging with the mousebuttons. further things in PM m8, dunno if everyone is interested :smile:

---

These words are my diaries screaming out loud

Aww, AtM, C&C is still such a good game indeed! Even though it
lacks a lot of functionality that makes later games so much easier to
handle, it still has a superb character. I miss that in most current
games.

I recently played Codename: Panzers Phase One, and though it's
graphically a great game and offers a lot of tactics and nice things,
it really misses that extra in it's storyline. Perhaps not so
surprizing - it's a WWII game and that leaves much less variation for
storylines, but still, it doesn't get up to C&C's level.

Man, too bad Westwood stopped... they were taken over by EA games,
wasn't it? Too bad, too bad... I really hope there's going to be a
C&C 3... if it's anywhere near the same style and depth as it's
predecessors, it's going to be on my top RTS list. :smile:

---

Create-ivity - a game development blog

If you like RTSes you should definitely try to find Total Annihilation
and the expansion The Core Contingency from Cavedog Studios. It is, in
my opinion, the best RTS ever made. The way it all works makes it
unlike any other game I've seen. Plus there is a sizable community who
make unit packs, maps, and even have wars where you choose a side and
fight battles for control of planets, kind of like a tournament. Can't
say I've been playing it recently though, I will now that I've thought
of it :smile:

Recently I've been playing:

Quake 4, really good FPS.

Gungrave for PS2 (anime nerd alert)

tried out RTCW:ET, thought it sucked, but got a kick out of someone spamming the chat and lagging the server.

I might check out Shadow of the Colossus, it looks pretty cool.

---

o

I played TA years ago and though I liked it (unit diversity is a big
plus), it was a bit too generic for me and lacked in the story
department like many other RTS. I never played on-line in that time
though, didn't had internet so perhaps I missed the most interesting
part of it, but it's a nice one, just not too special for me.

Starcraft holds better memories for me. Creating custom maps was fun. :smile:

---

Create-ivity - a game development blog

My friend brought up Katamari Damarcy, and I love it.

We're about to try the co-op mode in Katamari 2.. I'll tell you how it is.

I have a feeling this game will be just as awesome.

Anyone else played these games?

Katamari never made it out in the EU, but fortunately it's sequel is
due for release I believe. I also think the portable version for the
PSP is gonna be released here, which will probably grab my attention.

On the PSP front, I played both Gripshift and Burnout Legends today.
Burnout has been getting a lot of hype and I can understand why - it's
a very polished and solid portable version. The problem is that there
just isn't anything new here, or at least not from what I've seen of
it. Courses are taken from the first 3 Burnout games, the cars might as
well have been (same classes from Burnout 3, and the models, though
technically different, are much the same), and the modes are all as
seen before. Don't get me wrong, this is a great game and all, but
havng played the 2nd and 3rd iterations of the series already, there is
little new to do in Burnout Legends. Nice thing to let your mates play
on the train or something though - everybody loves Burnout after all :smile:

Gripshift is a whole different kettle of fish. We are not talking about
a racing game here - this is Super Monkey Ball meets Trackmania. Crazy
courses, as fully featured a track editor as you could ask for,
shortcut finding galore (not of the "designed in" kind), miniscule load
times, pretty visuals, high framerate, and a cool sense of style to the
whole affair. This is like platform gaming where you just happen to be
driving instead of running about. To top it all off, it's coming out at
under ?20 in the UK, making it, as far as I'm aware, the first PSP
budget title over here. I'm looking forward to picking it up, and
recommend any PSP owners looking for something a bit different look
into it too.

---

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

Katamari is fun.

Reno, you know you could mod your ps2 (solderlessly) and import the game from the US or Japan ... or anywhere. Or ... obtain it through other means. Is it really illegal if it isn't offered in your country?

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Co-op was pretty hard to get the hang of, but I really like this game in singleplayer. It's just really fun.

Yeah I know of the options, and to be honest I don't really know why I
don't do it. I got a freeloader for my Gamecube but the only game I've
picked up is Naruto 3. To be honest I can't think of any other Gamecube
games I'd be interested in that didn't come out in the UK. I've also
got a couple of US PSP games since it isn't region locked, which is
very nice considering the high price point of PSP games in the UK just
now (?35-40 :sad: ). I imported my PSP memory stick from Hong Kong and it
was less then half the price it costs here in the UK - crazy savings.
I'm probably going to "obtain" Bleach 2 for the PSP as well, since its
easily available and runnable on the console without any modifications,
and it will NOT be coming out in the UK at any point. I feel guilty
about not buying games if I am going to play them though, hence why I'm
definately going to be picking up Gripshift when it comes out after
today's little "testing" session :wink:

---

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

I got "Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth" for the Xbox today -
?17.99 brand new on day of release courtesy of play.com; gotta love 'em
:wink: The game itself is very good, though there are some flaws that hold
it from greatness.

For those uninitiated, it's based on HP Lovecraft's works, though I
don't believe it follows a particular book. I haven't read any of
Lovecraft's work, so I couldn't tell you for sure nor comment on how
faithful it is to its roots. Regardless, it's very much a story driven
game and the narration by the hero reminded me a lot of Fahrenheit /
Indigo Prophecy. The game is played entirely through first person but
don't think of this as an FPS - I played the game for 3 hours today,
which is just over a third of the way through the game apparently, and
I only just got access to any weapons whatsoever. Even once you have
some, ammo is limited and the run and gun approach just doesn't cut it
due to wildly erratic accuracy while moving.

If you have played Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, then
think of the game as a horror based version of that with even less guns
and you'll be on the right lines (right analogue stick initiated
"stealth mode" and all). Stealth plays a relatively large part of the
game, and while the mechanics work (in a fairly unremarkable sense),
what really stands out to me is the "peeking" style of spying that
you'll be doing. Very few games capture the precise art of peeking
quite so well, and you've got to be careful with how much of your head
you pop around or over your cover in order to avoid being spotted. If
you ARE spotted, you typically end up dead, or sat in a dark corner
hiding for 5 minutes while the guards CONSTANTLY REPEAT THE SAME FEW
LINES OF RECORDED DIALOGUE. While this obviously becomes extremely
grating, the segments in which you are running from numerous enemies
provide some extremely tense and dramatic thrills, with the first chase
of the game being amongst the best gaming moments I've had in recent
times. While these certainly get the blood pumping, so far there
haven't been all that many "horror" segments and some of them have been
rather cliche. I've not exactly been terrified by this like I have been
by other survval horror titles, but it's not exactly a walk in the park
either.

Graphically the game isn't exceptional, but it is certainly nice enough
and features some neat post-processing effects that help capture the
1920's setting. In addition, when you character starts panicking you
start to get other effects, occasionally disorientating you completely.
Stare at body parts lying on a shelf for instance and your heart rate
picks up, your breathing quickens, and eventually you become a slow
moving wreck, while looking down at the several story drop you are
about to try and jump is enough to induce vertigo, making Jack dizzy
and less agile for a time. The lack of any HUD also earns it plus
points - this isn't an "action" game so doesn't need intrusive
crosshairs or health indicators to be playable. Voice acting is a mixed
bag, with the main
character being passable, some coincidental characters (notably the
drunkard near the start) being exceptional, and others being
humourously bad (on purpose or not is hard to determine!).

So yeah, buy it if you like horror/adventure/stealth games - think
CoR:EBB, Fahrenheit, and Forbidden Siren all poured into one big
melting pot and you'll be close. Thus ends this thread's longest review
so far :biggrin:

---

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

I'm not going to write that much :smile: But I will say that Dungeon Lords
is fairly kick ass. I just got it yesterday, and while it's not
prefect, it's very good if you like RPG's.

'tis all :biggrin:

Dungeon Lords has been three patches away from a full game for the last year. When it was released ... not all the features worked, like stats. They've released a couple patches, but it still doesn't include everything it said it would.

It is a cool game though. It'd just help if what you did mattered.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Indeed Crono, it still does miss some features, but in my opinion it's
still one of the better RPG's out there. They did stupid things
like when the character customization feature didn't work, they removed
it instead of fixing it with the next patch.

I hope that they do release another patch or so to give soem more to the game, but hey, it's still a good game :smile:

Shadow of the Colossus came in the mail today... I played about 3 hours
of it so far. In that time period I managed to kill 7 colossi out
of 16, but only because while I was at swim practice my friend played 3
hours and managed to kill all 7, so when I came back he would give me
tips and hints on what to do.

The game, simply put, is a must buy. The battle with the flying
colossus is hands down the most unbelievably thrilling videogame
experience I've ever had.

People kept walking by my room and I would just pull them in so they could watch... and they were all really impressed.

The music is great, because it's situational. The graphical scope
and the art direction is something that needs to be seen. Your
horse, Agro, especially looks photo realistic.

And the bottom line is this game is fun, and its fun because it looks
amazing, it requires thinking, and its visceral and cinematic.

*cough*like Ico*cough*

I'm giving morphine s**t because he semi-refuses to shell out bucks for Ico. :razz:

Buy it, now!

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I bought Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and Kirby's Canvas Curse
yesterday. Both appear to be sweet games. I've put about 3hrs into
each. The only thing I didn't like is Castlevania's anime-ness. I
thought the series was, well, not. It's my first real play of one of
the games. I've had small plays on the NES version but I was never that
enthralled with the series. It gives me a sort of Final Fantasy VI
meets Blackthorne kind of feel.

[edit]You should see the stack of games I've aquired recently. I <3
bargain hunting/rack, eBay and 'obsoletion'. I need to make new
shelves, they're all full and I have 1x 6" stack, 7x 1' stacks and 1x
2' stack of games/movies/DVDs that aren't sorted around my room. Not
all are worthy and I'm sure there's probably a few empty cases but I
really need shelf space. :razz: It's turning into a library. I'll post a
picture when I borrow my girlfriend's camera.

I've been playing Phantom Brave for the PS2. Its the only game like it.
If you would like a tactics RPG where you can customize your party a
lot and can get to level 9999, then this game is for you. Its too hard
to explain everything, I won't even try. The customization is really
complex and takes several hours to learn thoroughly, partially due to
somewhat inadequite instructions. The voice-overs are bad and the plot
is pretty lame, but you can switch to Japanese audio and skip most of
the story stuff. The real focus of the game is the party customization
and battles. It's a really good game, but it takes a pretty big time
investment to get the most out of it. I've found myself spending almost
all of my free time playing this game since I picked it up about four
days ago (20+ hours so far).

My preliminary overall score for it is 8.5/10. Even though the story is
lame and the graphics are pretty out-dated, the great gameplay makes up
for it.

Graphics: 8/10 - although out-dated they are colorful and attractive,
and the spell/technique animations look good. They are above average
for a tactics RPG, and fit the game well.

Sound: 7/10 - The music is mostly cheery video game music, but there
are some moody/dramatic tracks in some story parts. Its not memorable,
its not annoying, its just there and it fits pretty well. The english
voice-overs on the other hand are pretty bad, I switched it to
Japanese. Also, the people say stuff when they are attacking and it
gets pretty repetative.

Gameplay: 10/10 - It really brings something new and innovative to the
table in the gameplay department. There is a deep level of party
customization, making you think about balancing your characters and
pairing them with the right weapons. The battle system keeps you
thinking about when and where to bring out which fighters and on which
objects, as all of those factors can affect the outcome of the battle.
A really unique game definitely worth checking out for RPG fans.

---

o

*cough*like Ico*cough*

I'm giving morphine s**t because he semi-refuses to shell out bucks for Ico. :razz:

Buy it, now!

I'll continue my shopping spree and order Ico and RE4. I probably
wont play them until Thanksgiving... but yes, I will buy Ico!

Woohoo, another person destined for uber enjoyment :smile: If you are
anything but entirely bought over by Ico's wonderful ambience, I
may just have to stop talking to you :razz:

Baron - if you like Phantom Brave, check out Disgaea, La Pucelle
Tactics, and Makai Kingdom. All of them are made by the same developer
and are just somewhat different game mechanics built upon the same
basic turn based system. Disgaea in particular is exceptional and has
some great light hearted humour, though it is tile based as opposed to
the free roaming nature of the others. My flatmate has been playing
Makai Kingdom - the newest of the games - solid since he bought it. I'm
thinking that means its pretty damn good too :smile:

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

MUHAHAHHAHAAA! World domination is mine!

Or at least, almost... :smile:

In other words, I picked up Evil Genius a few days ago. All in all, an
enjoyable game with definitely a good sense of humor and a great deal
of detail. The controls lack a bit at times though and that's the
weakest point of this game: it's sometimes hard to work with and
sometimes you're just waiting for something to happen, but besides
that, it's a good game. Who wouldn't want to 'interrogate' an enemy
super agent with an scientific experimental laser or just put them in
the kitchens bowl for a whirl? :biggrin:

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Create-ivity - a game development blog

Bought Civ4 at the weekend to play at work during lunch hours.

Decided to try it at home as I had a few spare hours but it wouldn't even load. After reading a bunch of forum posts apparently many Ati users (I've got an Ati 256mb 850XT PE) can't even run the game at all, no matter what drivers they use.

Anyway, tried it at work; my work PC has an Nvidia Quadro 500/600 card (ok, the Quadro is more tailored to 3D packages but should be more than capable of running it ok since the minimum required is supposedly a Geforce 2.) Performance is appalling. Seriously. Even after turning all the graphical options to their lowest settings.

Also tried it on my second PC at home, which has an Nvidia 5600 (PC spec is still way above min required; 2.6ghz, 1gig ram.) Again, performance is diabolical, and this is early-game, still B.C.

Real shame, since on first impressions the game itself seems to be really good and many website reviews are proclaiming it to be a return to form. Probably have to leave it on the shelf until these technicial issues are addressed though. :sad:

Seemed to be really inconsistant performance wise on my flatmate's PC.
Run's smooth as silk when you zoom right in, and smooth as silk when
you zoom right out, but at the mid level (ie. where you are gonna be
playing the vast majority of the game) it's uber jerky. He doesn't have
the hottest gfx card around - a 5900 or something - but then it's not
the most graphically intensive game around either. By all accounts its
well worth persevering though :smile:

I picked up a couple of cheap older games for the Xbox today since I
finished off Call of Cthulhu. Tenchu: Return to Darkness is an improved
port of the PS2 Wrath of Heaven, or so I'm told, but this is my rather
late introduction to the series. I've only played through the tutorial
and mucked about in the first mission (crashed on me twice - damn my
crappy xbox drive!), but it seems cool. There are definately niggles -
the running animation looks far too "fast" for the pathetic speed the
ninja's actually move at, for example - but all in all I think it will
be fun. 2 player coop should be a laugh too, if I can tear one of my
flatmates away from Civ 4 for long enough to play it with me!

The other game was Still Life, which I believe Crono mentioned once
before. Reminds me of a mix between Shadow Hearts (the presentation)
and Fahrenheit (character switching, gameplay style - albeit without
the shenmue style QTE), with obvious comparisons to the Broken Sword
series aside. While it is certainly frustrating in many ways (it is
SOOO not optimised for the consoles' control method!), I think it
should have enough redeeming features to see me through it.

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

I played it on computer. In which case it's a point and click game :smile:

I picked up a couple games yesterday, 007: Everything or Nothing and Breath of Fire 4 for PS2, $10 each :smile:

I went to Fry's today to grab some DVD-R and low and behold, I realized NO ONE BUYS GAMES AT FRY'S. So, I actually found a new copy of AstroBoy for GBA ... in fact, I found over ten new copies. They still have many things that are sold out everywhere else.

It was only $16 too :smile:

I'll have to go for another visit sometime.

Another game a lot of people haven't checked out that's pretty good is Cold Fear. f**k that, it's really good. It has a terrible story, but great gameplay. Very remnant of RE4.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I might pick it up then. It was one I considered at the same time as
Tenchu and Still Life, mostly because it is set on a ship and one of
the coolest levels of Call of Cthulhu was also :biggrin: I've also heard good
things about The Suffering, and now it's sequel is out the orginal is
really cheap, so I might give it a try some time.

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

Resident Evil 4 came in the mail yesterday. I've played maybe 2
hours so far, and it's enjoyable. There are some significant
changes and I'm not sure how I feel about being out of Racoon
City. I played through Code Veronica on Dreamcast and I really
enjoyed it, it felt very very cinematic. This one doesn't feel as
polished in the cutscenes. The combat is much more robust (ie.
locational damage and a new kicking system) and therefore much more
fun... but there's a break from tradition in that I'm shooting
Spaniards and not zombies. I don't know how I feel about that yet.

I'll weigh in later once I've completed the game.

Oh, and I really wish you could strafe.

Picked up Fahrenheit today (think it's called Indigo Prophesy in some
places), and it's a really decent adventure game. It's effectively an
interactive movie, but instead of watching cut-scenes doing nothing,
you're given these simple rhythm games to do and how well you do in
them effects what happens on screen.

Indeed, a lot of things you do (or not do) will effect what happens
later in the game; I can think of a few large action scenes that may
not have happened had I done things differently in earlier scenes.
There are also bits where you can pick a scene from a number of them
happening at the same time in the story, so you get perspectives from
different characters. The story is a good 'un as well, with realistic
characters and great voice acting.

Oh, there are sex scenes in it as well. Yes, they are interactive,
though not as much as you may like them to be. Still...those French are
an odd bunch.

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I Ain't Gettin' On No Plane, Foo'

Just completed Resident Evil 4 on Gamecube. If any of you think about playing it on a PS2, just bury your head in a pile of landmines for buying the worst console there is- the graphics suck compared to the Gamecube version.

In my opinion, RE4 is better than HL2 in graphics and gameplay. Amazing interactive cutscenes, the best fire I've ever seen in any game, and good old zombies from old sk00l to hybrid mutant ones and massive bosses with spider legs- amazing game. I'd say its worth paying ?30 for a Gamecube and buying the game. Plus on gamecube you can play monkeyball... hours of fun.

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

You can actually play MORE monkey ball on Xbox or PS2 myrk - Super Monkey Ball Deluxe has both the Gamecube games and more :razz:

While I'd be more inclined to suggest the Gamecube version of RE4 as
well, the PS2 version does have a fair old amount of additional stuff,
including a 2 hour or something side quest as Ada, a new weapon, and
several new costumes. Dunno if they quite offset the balance from the
smoother graphics and framerate, but it's worth considering. By most
accounts, the PS2 version really doesn't look all that much
worse than the gamecube one.

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

Yer true Xbox Monkeyball is better, but that additional Ada stuff is in the GC version only once you've completed the game, and the additional weapon is the super rocket launcher as in GC version once completed, and the additional costumes come once completed, and you have mercenaries in GC version where you can play as 5 different people.

Seriously, the PS2 is way outa date, and nothing is new on it anymore.

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

I have the PS2 version... and while I can't compare it with the
Gamecube (as I haven't even seen a GC in my life) it doesn't look half
bad. To be honest, the game isn't that much fun. I'm only
halfway through it, but I'm really not wanting to finish. The
story is f**king ludicrous. The US President's daughter gets
kidnapped by infected Spaniard psychos and they send in 1 man (you) to
get the job done. Riiight.

The voice acting is B movie style... and the cut scenes are
alright. The locational damage was fun at first, but it gets into
a boring pattern of shoot them in the knee then kick them then stab
them to death. Killing zombies with 1 bullet like that really
isn't challenging.

The boss battles, especially the first one, are boring compared to the ones from the other RE games.

I kind of wish I hadn't bought it. It received such good reviews
too! Myrk, does the game pick up any after midway? Because
right now it's pretty crappy.