EvaUnit02 on 25/11/2019 at 23:04
Turning Point: Fall of LibertyJanky, middle-market FPS from 2008, but it looks like it was made for PS2. It's still fun and has non-stop action. Savaged by critics at the time, but still much better than Unsharted 4, IMO. Everything works, it's just rough visually.
It's set in an alternative history WW2 where Winston Churchill died, so Nazis conquered Europe (apparently they steamrolled Russia too. LOL, okay.) and are now occupying the USA. You play as a mute NYC construction worker, who picks up a MP40 after wrestling it from a paratrooper and is instantly a one-man army.
The game has an alternative history setting, so they've used that as an excuse for some anachronisms. Eg the Nazis have infrared vision scopes on their Gewehr 43 rifles and multi-rocket panzerschrecks. All of the MP40s have mounted torches.
The game was made prior to 2014, so they haven't censored it to not hurt millennial snowflake feelings, Eg like 2017's Call of Duty: WW2 and 2018's Battlefield V. There's swastikas everywhere, which is entirely appropriate for a WW2 setting game.
The PC port is utterly barebones and unoptimised, but obviously still workable. It requires a few INI edits to change resolutions beyond the 2008 presets; disable mouse acceleration; change FoV; etc. There's an explosive wiring mini-game that seems to absolutely require a Xinput compatible gamepad, it's mandatory to progress. Mouse doesn't work in the menus, you need to use the keyboard.
(
http://www.iforce.co.nz/View.aspx?i=qati5lix.px2.jpg)
Inline Image:
http://iforce.co.nz/i/qati5lix.px2.jpg(
http://www.iforce.co.nz/View.aspx?i=02xytcm1.lft.jpg)
Inline Image:
http://iforce.co.nz/i/02xytcm1.lft.jpg
froghawk on 27/11/2019 at 03:32
Now playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider. I'm enjoying it MUCH more than Rise so far. It uses all the gameplay mechanics, but the pace and emphasis of the design are entirely different in a way that I find much more satisfying. The setting and environments are more appealing, the giant city hub is great, the combat encounters and few and far between and designed so that they can all be effectively stealthed (EM leaving their mark!)... this is the game I wish Rise had been. Granted, some of the plot elements are certainly borrowed from Rise (a hidden city, an alliance with a secret group of natives, etc.), but the overall thrust of Lara having to atone for her (reprehensible as usual) behavior is satisfying. (Tomb Raider is one of the games that create a great deal of cognitive dissonance for me, where I'm shaming the main character's actions in my head as I'm doing them.)
Malleus on 27/11/2019 at 19:39
Quote Posted by froghawk
an alliance with a secret group of natives
The group of natives in Shadow have way more character than in Rise IMO. It was also a nice thouch to record native languages, even though it's kind of weird how Lara still speaks english, but I enjoy listening to foreign languages anyway. The only thing Rise did better, is that IIRC all of the side quests were connected to the plot (imminent Trinity attack), while in Paititi you do a bunch of random stuff, like investigating a crime. Doesn't really support the feeling of urgency. :) I also disliked that they force you to wear a specific outfit in the city. I understand, story reasons and all, but there are so many cool costumes, and you can't wear them in a significant portion of the game.
I agree with you though, I also found the balance between combat/exploration/puzzles much better in Shadow than in the previous games. It's my favorite from the reboot trilogy.
Btw, TR: The Last Revelation also had a similar plot device: Lara steals and ancient artifact and unleashes the end of the world, which she has to then prevent from happening.
froghawk on 27/11/2019 at 23:43
Nice, I didn't know that. I've never sat down with the core titles - I need to do that one of these days.
I get you on the side quests. On the other hand, the collecti-bullshit feels more fleshed out and story connected here
I recall opening some boxes in the first two to get XP and nothing more, whereas this one is loaded with readables. They're fleshed out enough to not annoy the crap out of me, unlike in the last one.
scumble on 28/11/2019 at 14:41
Quote Posted by Renzatic
I think the weirdest thing about it would be pressing the left mouse button with your thumb, like you're squeezing the thing. As is, I'm pretty well satisfied with my thumby roller.
This talk of trackballs reminded me I had an old Logitech trackman in a box that I bought at least 10 years ago. Dug it out and I don't seem to be bothered by left clicking with my thumb. Only slightly miss the scroll wheel which would be resolved by getting a variant like the MX ERGO. My hand feels like it may be suffering after all these years and I don't mind using a trackball - just forgot about the thing.
What's the battery life like on the ERGO?
I'm on the threshold of starting Dishonored 2 myself so will attempt it with the trackball...
Renzatic on 29/11/2019 at 00:06
Quote Posted by scumble
What's the battery life like on the ERGO?
Yesterday was the first time I plugged it in to recharge it. Logitech advertises three months between charges, but I'd say expect about a month or so. Takes about half an hour to recharge fully
One of the nicest things I've noticed about my Ergo, something that hasn't been touted too much in any of the reviews I've read, is the high DPI mode. For those moments when I need to make an extremely fine tuned adjustment to something, being able to click a button to get slow, exacting movements out of your trackball is an absolute godsend.
Sulphur on 3/12/2019 at 09:36
It's inspired by Goya and Spanish religious art and themes, and obviously heavily trades on things like The Inquisition. Look that stuff up if you actually want to parse it.
demagogue on 3/12/2019 at 10:01
Aside from spending a lot of time learning how to make music on VCV (virtual synth rack), I've been playing Grim Dawn. It's a top-down Diablo-like hack & slash, and the world is kind of late Victorian badlands, the period & mythology of Dracula out in the swamplands with some western (as in cowboy) vibes.
I like it. Fantastic art style. Game play is pretty pared down, you're just walking into zombie hordes with a few tanks and occasional epic bosses scattered in and clicking them down. (Mercifully you can just hold the button down, no need for constant clicking.) But has a nice flow and strategy to it. They've got it set up and balanced so you have to tactically weave in and out without cornering yourself, which makes it more tactical than Diablo itself was. Also, to its credit, they made the world larger than what you need to get to your objective, so you can find alternative paths and just explore out in the wilderness a bit, see extra bits of story, get extra experience and gear (there are lots of different kinds of weapons and powers you can use to tailor your own play style), and take in the nice visuals. So there's that exploration side to it, and it has nice worldbuilding too.
If you liked the original Diablo 1 & 2, this is exactly that with a lot of nice bells and whistles that perfect the model.
Well here's a good video making a case for the game.
[video=youtube;Oym_kNIj0CU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oym_kNIj0CU[/video]
Tony_Tarantula on 4/12/2019 at 17:42
Tried a bit of Fortnite to see what Season 2 did, and b/c I'm homebound for the moment due to a (good) family circumstance.
Somehow they managed to make the game even more boring than it was at the beginning of Season 1. Exploring a new map is cool but a few rounds later once that's worn off the appeal is gone.
Renzatic on 6/12/2019 at 01:23
Now, this is surprising. When I heard Alien Isolation was headed to the Switch, like most of the quality AAA releases for the system, I was expecting the usual solid port that looks decent for what it is, but it's still obvious that a lot of sacrifices had to be made to the visuals to fit on the system.
So imagine my surprise when, per this Digital Foundry review, it actually ended up being the best looking of all the console ports. SHOCKO TIME!
[video=youtube_share;u8kvSGUwAyc]https://youtu.be/u8kvSGUwAyc[/video]