Matthew on 27/12/2008 at 22:45
Quote Posted by vurt
Not horrible compared to what, Deus Ex? Sure. But compared to HL2 they did look horrible.
It's easy to tell they had to work with a BETA version of the Source engine.
Not as good as HL2 I will give you.
Renzatic on 27/12/2008 at 23:46
Quote Posted by Thirith
You know, I think it's *effective* - like a good haunted house at the funfair. It just doesn't hold up at all when you think about it, so much of the hyperbolical praise the game and that level got struck me as, well, hyperbolical. :p
This. I love the game and all, but I thought the Ocean House failed to live up to the hype it was getting. It was neat scene and all, but I didn't piss myself in fear or anything like that. Didn't even do a yelp squirt.
Matthew on 28/12/2008 at 00:20
I was pretty scared by it.
steo on 28/12/2008 at 00:24
I thought it was one of the worst parts of the game.
suliman on 28/12/2008 at 00:55
I thought so, too. I mean, with all the fuss surrounding it you'd expect there'd be more to the level than items being thrown at you by ghosts(well guys were using the source engine so weve got to show off the awesome physics am i rite) and very, very silly texts.
Also, maybe it's just me, but it's hard to be afraid from ghost when you're a goddamn vampire. I mean, by that point in the game we've already established the fact that supernatural stuff is pretty common, so what's so scary about a ghost?:eww:
june gloom on 28/12/2008 at 01:35
Ocean House didn't bother me too much, though I did find some parts of it creepy.
Now, the old abandoned hospital? Holy fuck.
gunsmoke on 28/12/2008 at 02:05
Quote Posted by suliman
I thought so, too. I mean, with all the fuss surrounding it you'd expect there'd be more to the level than items being thrown at you by ghosts(well guys were using the source engine so weve got to show off the awesome physics am i rite) and very, very silly texts.
Also, maybe it's just me, but it's hard to be afraid from ghost when you're a goddamn vampire. I mean, by that point in the game we've already established the fact that supernatural stuff is pretty common, so what's so scary about a ghost?:eww:
Even though you ARE a vampire, I still respected and appreciated the atmosphere. Why can't a Vampire be scared?
june gloom on 28/12/2008 at 02:28
That doublepost was pretty fucking terrifying.
Chade on 28/12/2008 at 03:23
Because you are on one scripted ride outta there? Hell, could you even get substantially hurt in that level? Maybe you could, but if so they didn't do a good job of showing me. As far as I could tell it was all show and no substance ...
muttbunch2 on 28/12/2008 at 03:55
How come I always arrive at the thread just as it's gone off the rails into oh-yeah-well-your-mama-so-ugly-she-make-a-onion-cry territory?
Well, anyway, games that surprised me by their goodness? Certainly not Thief. I waited breathlessly for that one from the moment it was announced. Two I remember from back then are Cybermage: Darklight Awakening and Carnivores 2. I loooooved me some Cybermage. Being pre-WASD, it had a crappy control system, but omigod what a great game. I mean, a first-generation FPS that put you literally in the trenches of a war going on around you, and that had NPC's who walked around and talked to you? Pilotable vehicles? Conventional weapons AND cyber powers? That game had it all, man, including design credits from David Bradley, Chris Roberts, and Harvey Smith. IIRC, I think Specter was involved with it as well.
Carnivores 2 was a pleasant surprise because it perfected the gameplay that the original got almost right but just missed. The view distance now extended far, far past the 100 feet of the original, and no longer did you have to shoot the T-Rex in the eye (a near-impossibility) to get a kill. Not that getting a kill without being ripped apart was easy. Not at all. It was hard as hell. But the whole thing just felt more realistic, and the Carnivores series was all about the immersion. A lot of people thought C2 was boring, since it was a straightforward hunting game, without cutscenes, levelling, or any other of the tropes of your typical computer game. But I thought it was great and still consider it a perfectly designed game. There's nothing there that should have been left out, nor is it short anything it should have. Just a jewel, and for twenty bucks. Go figure.
