Nameless Voice on 16/2/2010 at 23:36
Quote Posted by Volitions Advocate
if they came in non-enthusiast models that worked I'd probably get one.
What do you mean by "non-enthusiast models"? My 5-button mouse is just a relatively cheap generic wireless mouse? A lot of not-quite-the-cheapest mice seem to have 5 buttons these days, though personally I prefer the ones with a button on each side rather than the ones with two tiny buttons on the same side.
Volitions Advocate on 17/2/2010 at 00:08
it was the "that worked' part that was important i guess.
I've got a microsoft wireless keyb/mouse set and the mouse has 4 buttons + the scroll wheel and the scroll wheel tilts as well, but its so cheaply made i'm worried about pushing too hard on the wheel to hit the 3rd mouse button, It never seems to trigger. Other than those kinds of things I can only ever seem to find the high-end 80 dollar mouse from logitech or something.
Nameless Voice on 17/2/2010 at 00:12
Fair enough. Mine is a relatively cheap Labtec wireless mouse, the old optical variety, not a laser.
I rarely use mouse3 because I always find the scroll wheel button much more awkward to press than any of the other mouse buttons, and will only use mouse3 if I've already assigned mouse4 and mouse5. Pushing the scroll wheel does work just fine, however. It's just that there isn't really a finger ready there, without moving one away from either the left or right mouse buttons. Or holding the mouse in a completely different manner than I'm used to (e.g. trying to use it with my middle finger on the wheel, my ring finger on right mouse button. Err, no thanks.).
sNeaksieGarrett on 17/2/2010 at 00:30
O_O
foldy on 17/2/2010 at 00:58
IGN posted a review, giving it a 7.0.
The review got on my nerves, because the writer saw fit to cover the previous games in all of one sentence, doing nothing to compare this latest version to its predecessors and assuming everyone who approaches this game will have never played anything like it before. Annoying.
Jashin on 17/2/2010 at 06:21
It's 2dvd, what's in there I wonder..?
Volitions Advocate on 17/2/2010 at 11:34
Okay... played through the alien campaign on hard.. beat it.
The alien isn't as hard to control as everybody says it is. if you jump at a wall that is close enough, you will cling to it.. and you can jump pretty far. I was in garages with ... i'd say 30 foot ceilings and was able to jump straight up.
the transition button thing is a bit confusing at first until you realize exactly what it does. It doesn't transition you from "normal" to "wall walk" you're always in wall walk mode. You use the transition button when you hit a hard angle at 2 different surfaces. I'm going to take a guess and say that if you're walking towards a surface that is about 60 degrees to your current surface, you'll need the transition button to transition from surface to surface. This applies whether you're on the roof, walls, or objects, or the floor. having the transition button on auto just messes things up, you'll get very dizzy playing this way, because if you back into something your entire orientation will change unexpectedly as you crawl backwards onto it. The only time I turned it on was for the end of the final level some tricky boss fighting with 3 predators. Some interesting narrative, although TBH the single player campaign for the alien is a 10/10 for the first 10 minutes. and a boring 4/10 for the rest (thats my imho) The beginning showing you all the evil WY experiments (of which you are one, being the alien that weyland himself considers his pet project) but once you're out and about it basically mirrors AVP1 and 2 with the whole... "free the queen" kind of thing. but with very pretty locales.
I'm disappointed with the auto recharge health and the lack of eating people to heal. It came in handy during the pred fight at the end, since i had nothing to eat, but I think the game would feel a little funner with some more mechanics built in. Also, pressing the transition button will make you let go of the surface. but it doesn't always mean you'll end up wher eyou want and I died several times by clinging to a different surface than the one I wanted. your actions seem to follow short scripts depending on where you're facing and what objects and surfaces are nearby.. kind of got annoying.
Maybe I spoiled the story or something because I don't think you were supposed to play the alien first.
So against my better judgement at 3 in the morning I started the Marine campaign... There is QUITE a difference here. So far (I only beat the first level, which is at least 4 times longer than the alien's first level) it is fantastic. Maybe the edge of the previous AVP games has kind of worn off because I know all the levels, but man.. jumping back into this world as a private who is alone and scared is really effective. Say what you will about how scary games are/aren't... but I really try to put myself into the game and this is one of those games that you can't enjoy without immersing yourself.... I was actually shivering toward the end of the level. It was freaking hairy sometimes. It might be masochistic.. but man I love it. I remember when Doom3 came out I thought it would be the perfect engine to do an alien game. Well if you take all the things that id tried to do with doom to make it scary with the lighting and everything... I think rebellion was paying attention to the complaints, because much of the levels are dark... but with lots of little light sources so that you can at least see movement. And with the advancement in shaders and graphics these last few years, the shadows actually have depth and texture, and when its dark, it isn't just pitch black, you can usually see movement quite well. The flashlight is a bit better than the FEAR flashlight, so it'll help you out, but wont be as great as you want. and I think the flares are perfect, Not the harsh blue light but a warmer orange/red colour that gets a nice glow going and really helps illuminate the areas.
of course this is me running in full DirectX 11, with all settings maxed except aniso and AA, which are set at minimum, and @ 1680 x 1050. obviously depending on your setup ymmv.
Some events are heavily scripted. but there seems to be a dose of randomness to them as well. You can watch through the very obvious first encounter with an alien, but later when you're fighting alongside a couple of marines, despite the fact that they are people with names and personalities, if you don't work hard enough to make sure they live, the game will let them die the second the heat gets too much for them, and there is no apologizing.
Man this is a long post.
In summary. Beat the alien campaign. started great. mostly meh...
Marine Campaign. just as tense as avp2.... and maybe a bit more. but probably not as stupid terrifiying as the original on a DC run. (but i've only done the first level so far)
haven't tried the pred yet.
I'm sure its campaign will have more story in it. but so far it seems the alien species might have gotten the short end of the stick in the narrative dept.
catbarf on 17/2/2010 at 19:49
Aliens can headbite corpses, just get close and it'll prompt you to hit E to headbite. It instantly regenerates your health. However, you can't use it if you already destroyed the skull with a trophy kill.
The Marine campaign is extremely tense because even one alien can kill you. If you lose track of it when shooting and it gets close, one flub in the melee will result in a messy death. And it's hard to track them- the aliens are fast, run all over the walls, blend in with many of the environments and are easily obscured by muzzle flash and recoil.
Volitions Advocate on 17/2/2010 at 19:56
yeah i know that. it just sucks that you can't choose to headbite a live enemy, its just up to chance when you use the grab.
