Video Games and Reviews!

[J_Parker]

Hey guys, just thought I'd start a thread with the main focus of the most current video games and their reviews. Point being, what games are you playing, how are the graphics, how do you like it? Regardless of platform lets hear what you have.

I think for us "gamers" on here this one will be quite helpful in terms of unleashing some of the more underrated games out there. Thanks in advance for bringing some good ones to light!

[J_Parker]

Nothing? Okay well, I just tried the newish need for speed... I wouldn't waste my time if I were you lol.

[YoshiBishi]

I liked the new need for speed! Since the Burnout people made the game basically, it plays too much like Burnout. However, I love Burnout =D.

[onebadmollafolla]

Playing MW2 as of most recently, though it is hardly new. Copious amounts of hackers on there. However, that is being taken care of as Sony is now permanently banning them all. :)

Otherwise, I've been dabbling on some GT5. Still need to do some B-Spec races. Phenomenal game with great graphics. Online play is so-so. More times than not, a lobby is laggy.

[YoshiBishi]

I've got a few races left in beginner B-Spec and the few endurance races left. I haven't done A-Spec much yet, been doing the license tests and special events instead.

[Jeremy C]

I've been sucked into Just Cause 2 like it was meth. I just can't say no to it. Playing on the PC, and honestly even with the somewhat clunky controls I can't make the switch to controller on it (have a 360 controller for my PC for games like Batman:AA and racing games). Nothing beats the mouse for fine-tuning your kills (and the 1000+ headshot kills I have attest to that). Gameplay is great. I heard a rumor that there is an actual story line to this game, but I'm too busy blowing shit up, assassinating people, and causing general chaos to bother with it. I've got over 100 hours into it so far, and just hit 85% completion, so yeah - lots to do in the world of Panau. Game looks great and plays fine with my current PC. It's been posted before but I'll repost for those that didn't partake in the PC thread:

Q6600-3.0GHz
6GB DDR2 1066 ram
iP35-Pro MoBo
GTX 285 1GB
2 X 150GB Velociraptor (RAID-0, this is strictly a games drive)

[sublime_whatigo]

Playing MW2 as of most recently, though it is hardly new. Copious amounts of hackers on there. However, that is being taken care of as Sony is now permanently banning them all. :)

Otherwise, I've been dabbling on some GT5. Still need to do some B-Spec races. Phenomenal game with great graphics. Online play is so-so. More times than not, a lobby is laggy.

Nothing wrong with banning the cheaters, not exactly hackers. But be careful sony can now ban you for using a non-sony controller or bluetooth or just because they feel like it. BTW sony hasn't banned anyone yet, the makers of mw2 have banned people though.

[IPD]

haven't played anything "new" in a while. laptop shat itself before i came out here, and my backup has an integrated mobility radeon 128Mb card. i did finally manage to download the "ID" pack & have been playing a LOT of heretic, doom, etc.

when i get home & i get to play with my new MSI, i'll be busting out bioshock 2 & fallout 3 for the first time. unless, of course, i decide to finish goldeneye 007 on my wii first.

...of course, i might be too busy working on my car to actually do any of that. :suspect:

[J_Parker]

The ID pack is the shit lol, I never get tired of those oldschool games :D

I've been wanting to try out Just Cause 2. Perhaps after I finish digging my car out of the snowbank, I'll demo it.

Or... I'll just get sucked into working on it, I swear it has some mystical spell on me that keeps me at it's side :p

[R/T93]

Over the last year I have played through quite a few games, was a pretty good year, IMO.

God of War 3, FF13, Borderlands, Starcraft 2, GT5, Fallout New Vegas, and most recently Marvel vs Capcom 3. I would recommend all of these games to everyone, they were all top notch games.

I need to find a new computer game, my 2000 dollar machine just sits cuz I got ps3 games to play :)

[YoshiBishi]

I finished both Uncharteds for PS3 recently. I loved it, so did the wifey.

Probably the best games I've ever played.

[IPD]

Over the last year I have played through quite a few games, was a pretty good year, IMO.

God of War 3, FF13, Borderlands, Starcraft 2, GT5, Fallout New Vegas, and most recently Marvel vs Capcom 3. I would recommend all of these games to everyone, they were all top notch games.

I need to find a new computer game, my 2000 dollar machine just sits cuz I got ps3 games to play :)

i very nearly bought sc2 before this "extended trip"; but since my laptop shit itself, there was no point. the game won't run on my backup.

i will probably end up waiting till legacy of the void drops, and then purchasing the COMPLETE game. i'm a cheap bastard. i hate paying >$29.95 for any game. $60 for 1/3 of sc2 is....painful.

[Zaroth]

If you are in to horror/shooters, Dead Space 2 is great. I'm about halfway through it right now and it is a lot of fun. Graphics are beautiful and the only actually "scary" game I have played in a long time.

[mb7050]

I get bored so fast i rarely finish the games i play :(

[Jeremy C]

I need to find a new computer game, my 2000 dollar machine just sits cuz I got ps3 games to play :)

1)Buy STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl
2)download the "Stalker Complete" mod and install

Be amazed at a nearly 4 your old game stressing your system and looking so damn good. Also prepare to get scared shitless when you go into some of the abandoned labs.

Or pick up STALKER: Call of Pripyat and enjoy a trip through the city of Pripyat without worrying about residual radiation. :D

Or pick up Metro 2033 and bring your maching to it's knees. There isn't a system out yet that can run this game at 60+fps at all times (well, unless you have quad 580's, but that's a bit more than your machine budget...).

If you have a triple monitor setup, I hear Just Cause 2 is amazing with the huge aspect ratio.

I can keep going if you want. Every game I mentioned here I've picked for for $12 or less through Steam when they did one of their many deals. Hell, they had HL2 ep. 2 for $2 yesterday.

[mb7050]

stalker^that game i need sounds interesting !

[mb7050]

can you play it 3D ?

[YoshiBishi]

Metro 2033 really that intense? I'll have to try it on my rig.

4ghz Phenom II X6, 8GB of DDR3 memory, and 2x HD 4870x2s.

[IPD]

wtf would you pay $2 for episode 2? it's a piece of shit. i only played it because it was FREE for me.

zaroth, you didn't find FEAR to be scary? the first one scared the shit out of me. hell, if you want scary, go play the original alien vs. predator as a HUMAN.

[FeaRpb]

zaroth, you didn't find FEAR to be scary? the first one scared the shit out of me. hell, if you want scary, go play the original alien vs. predator as a HUMAN.


he only actually "scary" game I have played in a long time.


Fear hasn't been out in awhile. So I am guessing it would fall in that category.

And Zaroth and I were masters of the original AVP.

[IPD]

sniper munch FTMFW.

[Alan92RTTT]

I played the DC Universe Beta for most of the Fall. Once beta ended I went back to playing City of Heroes.

[YoshiBishi]

You seem to like those super hero rpgs.

I'll have to give city of heroes a try.

[J_Parker]

I loved the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, they were very entertaining, and the graphics were awesome as well. They kept me occupied for quite a while :) I'm seeing a lot of games on here I have never seen, or heard of before. This is turning out to be a good source!

I just tried out Test Drive 2 Unlimited and thought it was a pretty fun game. Definitely not what the older ones were, but still pretty good. The graphics were nice too.

[Jeremy C]

mb - Stalker is an FPS, so it should pretty good in 3D. If you pick it up, don't even bother playing until you put the Complete mod on (You have to start the game once just to write the config files, but seriously install the mod even for your first go through). One of the best survival horror FPS's ever.

Yoshi - Metro probably won't be as bad on your system due to your vid card setup. The DX11 setting really tax a video card HARD (the advanced Depth of Field is a killer). Since you don't have DX11, that helps a bit. :) It's still a tough game on newer systems still:

GeForce GTX 580 SLI review (http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-580-sli-review/9)

Dark - Didn't care for the HL2 series? I consider it plus both it's episodes to be some of the best examples of FPS's ever made. I also think the CoD series is a steaming pile of shit, so that gives you an idea of what I like in an FPS. And FEAR was cool, but not that scary. It was more jumpy/startle scary instead of "I've got to turn on the lights" scary for me. FEAR 2 was a sad, sad joke of a game that showed it's console roots way too strongly.

[IPD]

jeremy, i'm a fan of a lot of retro FPS's. you know, back before consoles started fucking everything up. Tron 2.0. NOLF. hell, nearly everything made by monolith except for contract jack.

i liked HL2. i just thought episode2 SUCKED. i was really hoping that SiN episodes was actually going to materialize as an entire saga, i really liked the originals & episode 1.

bioshock was a letdown for me. maybe it's because i have more than a cursory understanding of rand's philosophy; but to me, it was a steaming pile of shit that tried too hard to be something it wasn't. it had the potential to be a great game; the storyline ruined it for me. i could bore you to death with a 3-hour explaination why it was totally unrealistic, flawed, and imploded upon itself while trying to portray randian objectivism--but i'll keep it out of this thread.

deus ex 1 still has the best FPS storyline of all time. period. hl1 and hl2 included. i'm hoping that the new game lives up to my hopes for it--and that they didn't fuck it up too much with all of the console BS.

for "mindless" fun though, alien swarm, ut2k4, and ut3 are still my top favorites. i was a big TFC fan back in the day, but i've yet to play tf2. i lost my taste for it after they started nerfing the shit out of everything. the game became a neutred turd. ut2k4 had much more "replayability" factor--especially since the ut-rpg mod debuted. i spent nearly 6 years playing UT in some form of rpg or another. some of them were VERY creative. the command & conquer ut-rpg mod? un-freaking-believeably good. monster assault rpg? awesome x10. i have seen so many spectacular mods for ut2k4. it's not a big surprise that i never played halo; it just couldn't hold a candle to the varity of ut.

guess my point here is that new games mostly suck. pricey as shit, pc fps's that are only warmed-over console offerings, etc.

p.s.

only thing that would make me happier is if steam offered a $20 descent combo pack (Descent 1-3 + freespace).

[J_Parker]

Here's an overview of my setup.

Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H Motherboard
AMD 6000+ OC'd to 3.5Ghz
Kingston 4,0 GB RAM @ 800Mhz
Windows 7 32bit
ATI Radeon 5770
750W Ultra Power Supply
30 Gig Wester Digital Veloci Raptor (operating system & important apps)
1000 Gig Western Digital Storage
Sexy All Black Ultra Case.

It's pretty out dated, but surprisingly it still holds it's own on the high end of gaming :D I was going to update the whole thing... Then I got my Stealth lol.

[Jeremy C]

jeremy, i'm a fan of a lot of retro FPS's. you know, back before consoles started fucking everything up. Tron 2.0. NOLF. hell, nearly everything made by monolith except for contract jack.

i liked HL2. i just thought episode2 SUCKED. i was really hoping that SiN episodes was actually going to materialize as an entire saga, i really liked the originals & episode 1.

bioshock was a letdown for me. maybe it's because i have more than a cursory understanding of rand's philosophy; but to me, it was a steaming pile of shit that tried too hard to be something it wasn't. it had the potential to be a great game; the storyline ruined it for me. i could bore you to death with a 3-hour explaination why it was totally unrealistic, flawed, and imploded upon itself while trying to portray randian objectivism--but i'll keep it out of this thread.

deus ex 1 still has the best FPS storyline of all time. period. hl1 and hl2 included. i'm hoping that the new game lives up to my hopes for it--and that they didn't fuck it up too much with all of the console BS.

for "mindless" fun though, alien swarm, ut2k4, and ut3 are still my top favorites. i was a big TFC fan back in the day, but i've yet to play tf2. i lost my taste for it after they started nerfing the shit out of everything. the game became a neutred turd. ut2k4 had much more "replayability" factor--especially since the ut-rpg mod debuted. i spent nearly 6 years playing UT in some form of rpg or another. some of them were VERY creative. the command & conquer ut-rpg mod? un-freaking-believeably good. monster assault rpg? awesome x10. i have seen so many spectacular mods for ut2k4. it's not a big surprise that i never played halo; it just couldn't hold a candle to the varity of ut.

guess my point here is that new games mostly suck. pricey as shit, pc fps's that are only warmed-over console offerings, etc.

p.s.

only thing that would make me happier is if steam offered a $20 descent combo pack (Descent 1-3 + freespace).

I can respect that mindset. Please don't kill me, but I've not actually completed the original Dues Ex yet... :Doh: I have it loaded up and ready to go in Steam right now, but my biggest issue is figuring out what mods to install to give the game the most updated look without causing too much pain and suffering.

Bio Shock was meh - I'll agree there. I just got done replating through the original Half Life a couple weeks ago. Damn that was a tough game, but oh so much fun! I do think I enjoy newer FPS's with more realistic hit boxes (it shouldn't take 15 rounds from an m16 in the head to drop someone).

I guess part of why I didn't complain about ep 2 is that I didn't play HL2 or ep 1 until ep2 came out. Picked it all up in the orange box and played it all straight through. In that situation, I consider HL2+ep1+ep2 all as one big game. I'll probably end up playing through them all yet again if ep 3 ever surfaces. Playing HL2 with the cenematic mod was one of the better things I've done in gaming. :)

[Alan92RTTT]

You seem to like those super hero rpgs.

I'll have to give city of heroes a try.
I do but not as much as that would leave you to believe.

Love the HL series, portal, DOOM, quake, fear starfract balders gate.

Just nothing that catching my interest so COH is fun to play for now.


Playing HL2 with the cenematic mod was one of the better things I've done in gaming. :)"cenematic mod " do tell?

[Zaroth]

wtf would you pay $2 for episode 2? it's a piece of shit. i only played it because it was FREE for me.

zaroth, you didn't find FEAR to be scary? the first one scared the shit out of me. hell, if you want scary, go play the original alien vs. predator as a HUMAN.

AvP has got to be among my all time favorite games ever. I still remember the first mission for humans when your messing with the control console and aliens start coming out of the ceiling. The FEAR games were scary, and were the scariest game I had played since probably Silent Hill. Dead Space 2 makes playing FEAR feel like Candyland though. I some how completely missed the first Dead Space, so I can't really put any input in on it, but Dead Space 2 was done really well and I would recommend it to anybody who is a fan of shooters.

[YoshiBishi]

I tried Stalker, but I'm a wussy and can't handle survival horrors. I have to watch people play dead space from across the room :(.

[Dbeltran24]

Games I've been playing lately
COD BLack Ops
---------------
Pros: It has Zombies!!! Great Graphics. Multiplayer is fun. Story for single player is pretty good. Weapon choices and gameplay are great. New map pack is awesome. Wager matches were a great addition.
Cons: Only complaint is they need to fix "Finding a Match" in zombies. When you try to play on xbox live with random people, it takes forever to start a game (Provided the host doesn't migrate :( ). Oh and to many campers in Multiplayer.

Marvel Vs Capcom 3:
---------------------
Pros: Graphicly this game is awesome. Large variety of moves per character. As fast past as the previous version of the game.
Cons: They changed the buttons. No more LP, MP, HP / LK, MK, HK. Now its just L, M, H, and Special. Takes getting used to. Also not enough characters compared to MvsC2

Split Second
------------
Pros: Very well put together game. Fast pace arcade style racing. Main focus is drifting and avoiding obstacles. Beautiful Destruction
Cons: Graphics could be a bit better. No ability to chose maps when doing multiplayer with random people. No real cars.

Vanquish
---------
Pros: Gears of War on speed. Very fast pace. Amazing graphics.
Cons: no multiplayer. story isn't very good.

[IPD]

what's this cinematic mod for HL2? i need details.

[Jeremy C]

Home of FakeFactory's Cinematic Mod (http://www.cinematicmod.com/)

Makes the game look really fucking pretty, adds an epic soundtrack, gives you iron sights to feel like more modern games, and a host of other little things. Only complaints is that it makes the women look slutty, makes Alyx look like queen slut, and it takes a shit ton of space (like 20GB).

[YoshiBishi]

Home of FakeFactory's Cinematic Mod (http://www.cinematicmod.com/)
Only complaints is that it makes the women look slutty, makes Alyx look like queen slut, and it takes a shit ton of space (like 20GB).

So.. what do the men say about it? :)

[IPD]

alyx needed to be sluttier. in fact, i want my FPS games to all feature women whose wardrobes were provided by fredricks of hollywood. i want FPS porn. i want to headshot a bunch of aliens and then my damsel in distress go down on me as an act of gratitude. not something stupid like "hot coffee". i mean full on, "i can see what technique she's using" virtual BJ's without any pixelation. i want the minigame where i have to make a woman climax while i'm evading a hit-squad.

:D

[YoshiBishi]

You know, they do make games like that!

[IPD]

no, they really don't. not quality ones. too many people pitch a fit, and they don't get enough retail space to sell; so people don't want to make them because the ROI isn't there. silly, really. graphic violence is ok. you can violently disembowel someone in a game. heaven forbid if you see an actual depiction of sex though.

gotta love the USA's ass-backwards sense of morality.

p.s.
i plan to get postal 3 on release week.

[DocWalt]

That CM actually makes HL2 look playable... I might have to try that out, considering I've never played HL2 :suspect:

[YoshiBishi]

no, they really don't. not quality ones. too many people pitch a fit, and they don't get enough retail space to sell; so people don't want to make them because the ROI isn't there. silly, really. graphic violence is ok. you can violently disembowel someone in a game. heaven forbid if you see an actual depiction of sex though.

gotta love the USA's ass-backwards sense of morality.

p.s.
i plan to get postal 3 on release week.

I'll get you some games you may like ;). They aren't really FPS though... actually.. they are purely just sex games.

[reallyxxxxxxloud]

Ok First I'd like to suggest "SNIPER GHOST WARRIOR" pc

Some of the main problems I found are:
- a extremely linear gameplay, you're almost force to follow way points.
- collisions problems (you can enter some rocks, your weapons and hands go through walls).
- the IA is really dumb, and in hard mode looks like they've got the Superman vision, not realistic.
- the ragdoll effects when you shoot opponents are also poorly realised.

The models are also kind of poor, very limited (looks like it's always the same 3 or 4 opponents repeating the same 3 sentences forever, bad for immersion).
Graphically, it's so so, not that bad but with some ugly glitches (like plants and grass moving through the ground, or lighting effect with no visible lights source , plus a very noticeable aliasing effect). Mulitiplayer addon maps are $5 bucks and really they should of come with it free.

All in all, it looks like an unprofessional work.

But

All in all. I absolutely love playing this game even with all its issues- hey its not as bad as STALKER's problems and I own all three Stalkers and will be buying the Stalker II coming out soon.

[reallyxxxxxxloud]

Second: "BATTLEFIELD BAD COMPANY 2" pc

This is it! True War! The game sound is AWESOME! You feel that you're in the middle of a real war as it creates true disorientation at times. I'd recommend 100% for this game!!!
Simply one of the best multiplayer online games out there. The squad gameplay is addictive especially if you have 2-3 friends ready to jump into a game with you. Working together with squadmates to achieve an objective make this a rewarding and compelling gaming experience. The Single Player wasn't the greatest thing ever, but the characters were definitely more interesting than those in MW2. Where this game shines (as if it wasn't obvious) is the multiplayer. It's truly an amazing experience, from the improved balance between classes and vehicles to the incredible destruction physics in every corner. At first I was getting killed 16 to my one :(. But as you rank up BOOM its like fuck yeah -take that cunts....

(P.S I'm 37 being excited like a 16 yo seeing his first real set of tits :) )

The only game in my collection that has beat this is L4D. But I've 600 hrs on that game.

[J_Parker]

DEAD SPACE 2 pc

I HIGHLY recommend that you guys check this game out. I am playing it right now with 7.2 surround, in a dark room with no noise other than the game itself. The game is pretty well a point and shoot game, but has a good fill of creepy scenes and effects. I've been playing the game for a couple of days now and have had a blast! The graphics are pretty good, and the story line is that which you would expect from a game like FEAR.

[YoshiBishi]

Ok First I'd like to suggest "SNIPER GHOST WARRIOR" pc

I tried this on xbox and gave up because it was so bad :(.

[DocWalt]

I didn't notice all of those glitches in Sniper Ghost Warrior, but I didn't spend a lot of time playing it yet. It's based on the same engine used in Crysis, so the graphical issues can mostly be blamed on that. It's good for looking pretty at least :p I too had fun playing it at least. Never tried it on 360 though, so idk how good it is there.

[IPD]

i'm enjoying fallout 3 right now; but it does show that it was designed for ps3/xbox. :( fuck you console-gaming.

[J_Parker]

i'm enjoying fallout 3 right now; but it does show that it was designed for ps3/xbox. :( fuck you console-gaming.

Consoles are shit IMO, I like being able to go beyond HD with my graphics, and more than 5.1 surround.

[terrets]

Dragon Age II is the shit!!...Consoles arent shit :)...How can you say such a thing?? But I get where you are coming from, if I could afford a gaming pc I would FORSURE have one. And for a good amount of games, I prefer mouse and keyboard. Its better because theres more buttons, and I feel like I have more control with a mouse than a stick.

[IPD]

consoles are good for certain types of games. like platformers.

FPS's and RTS's should be PC only. period. and can we please stop decreasing resolutions? i'm sick of being hampered to resolutions inferior to what i had 10 years ago. kthxbi.

[YoshiBishi]

Only things on console that I play are racing games. I hook up a playseat and go at it =).