mothra on 26/10/2008 at 14:28

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i have a dual core/8800gts, use the .43 nvidia driver and can run everything on high/very high with steady 30-50fps. the engine is a marvel. the gameplay is old soon. while finishing off guys in brutal manner like described above is always a blast the same scene repeats in slightly different fashion at the next checkpoint. I find myself using buses and trying to avoid streets all the time, playing mostly at night since the layout of the maps is such a drag and copy/paste. I stand by my first impressions: a castrated simulation with the new definition of buggy AI. while idle animations (smoking, excersises and frequent chats between guards) are nice once the mayhem ensues they get as unimmersive as it can be. standing around in burning gras without escaping. killing each other with cars. shooting blindly in one direction for minutes where I was 15minutes ago ? serious pathfinding problems and wonky awareness, on the other hand they sometimes headshot you across the map with an mp-5 ? and pls don't spawn your AI into thin air. it's not immersive. let them arrive by car and repopulate checkpoints in intervals assuming a patrol from another checkpoint has to first report their death and then send reinforcements.
another game with no new ideas for difficulty scaling (hardcore / infamous give enemies headshot accuracy with above mentioned mp-5 and doesn't scale down for enemies as well: you still have to pump 'em full of lead like on easy)

don't get me wrong, once you got to your mission location it's all fine and funny but I can't see how they thought they gonna get their "jackal-is-kurtz" story through to me with arcade gameplay.

did I mention the engine and firepropagation is insane ?
give me one quarter of this game with some really interesting and diverse, detailed maps and buffed up AI that doesn't stop at each sectormarker to stop you or turns around their car and a much more meaningful trade/upgrade/weapon system and you got a classic. maybe FC3. but i don't regret buying it. better than most shooters.

catbarf on 26/10/2008 at 14:34

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...which will likely lead to Jack Thompson-esque attacks on gaming :laff:

Renault on 26/10/2008 at 14:48

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Also enjoying this game immensely. However, one little things really irks me, very small but...those god damned signposts. Changing color to point you in the right direction, c'mon are you kidding me? Almost insulting, do they really think even the most basic gamer cannot read a flippin' map? :laff:

Turtle on 26/10/2008 at 17:21

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Loot glint strikes again!

Yesterday I assaulted a building and killed all the enemies there.
There was a fuel barrel sitting next a munitions stash, which I shot. Suddenly bullets fill the air in every direction, as all 60 rounds I had left there went off.
So, that was cool.

redrain85 on 26/10/2008 at 22:23

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Just a little story about how my pre-order at LameStop (EB Games Canada, same diff) went. Need to vent a little. (Just another reason why I avoid LameStop like the plague. But the bastards managed to get the exclusive on the special edition, with the map and bonus missions.)

I tried calling the 1-800 customer service number a couple of weeks back, to make sure that Canada was getting the same pre-order edition offer as in the States. Couldn't get an answer. Tried several times, but the phone kept ringing and nothing/no one picked up.

After doing some searching around (including the official FC2 forum in particular), I saw someone's message: he posted an e-mail from Ubisoft saying yes, we were getting it too. The ebgames.ca site had absolutely no info about it, the stores had no POP material on it, and the associates had no idea what the fuck I was talking about. Pised me off that I had to go searching on the internet. Why can't they be more organized? But eventually I found some concrete evidence. So, that's cool.

Placed my pre-order for the PC version, and waited. The game arrived on the 23rd or 24th, depending on the location. By yesterday evening, I still hadn't received a call. Called up the store and asked if my pre-order had arrived. Yeah, it's in. Thanks for calling me, guys. :rolleyes: (Last year when I pre-ordered Bioshock, at least they did give me a call. Same store.)

Went to pick it up today. Before I went to the counter, I checked to see if any pre-order editions were visible anywhere. Yep, there was one for the PS3. So I go up to the counter and pay for my copy. Guy goes to the back to get it. When he comes back, I see it's not the pre-order edition. Just the regular version. I point it out to him, and hand him some printouts I brought along just in case of this situation. Show him the EB Games website page (U.S. version, since ebgames.ca had nothing) with the PC having a pre-order edition.

He says they didn't receive any pre-order editions for the PC. Just the 360 and PS3. WTF?! He says he'll call his manager and ask him about it. He talks with the manager, and the manager confirms that they don't have any. I don't hate the dude or anything for what happened. He was just doing his job. And offering to call the manager was a nice thing to do.

So, I bought it anyway, and now I have to take this up with head office customer service. Naturally, I haven't opened my copy, in the hope that I can exchange it for a pre-order edition. I tried calling the 1-800 number three times since I got back home, and can never get a human being to answer the damn call. And customer service is open today, I checked the hours. Also, the music they play when you're on hold is incredibly annoying. It's like they want to drive you away. :grr:

Moral of the story? I was honest and bought my copy of the game, because I wanted to support Ubisoft and PC gaming. Despite the rotten DRM. But instead of being a satisfied customer, I'm getting jerked around.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to install my torrented copy stripped free of DRM. :sly: