What have you beaten recently? What are you playing?

[diluzio91]

I finally finished Bioshock and Dirt 2.

[Munty]

I got both FarCry's in the mail about a week ago and put down the original after a matter of minutes... A lot of reasons but basically I just think it's a bit crap :p FarCry 2 looks a lot better but I haven't played it yet so I'm basing that on the boxshots and manual (plus the map - I love wen games include maps )

Other new titles included Dead Space which I LOVE and have already started to play through for the second time! I completed the oldish Star Wars Republic Commando today and it has a lot of good points but does have a few flaws as well. A sequel is well overdue though and the original gameplay with some next gen graphics and a longer campaign with co-op/multiplayer options would be just incredible.

I also got hold of the original Starcraft (as I realised I currently don't have a copy!) and Warcraft 3 which I'm currently playing. Not a patch on no.2 and the move from isometric to 3D has been implemented appaulingly imo. It's a cartoony game with an awful story that I just don't care about. To make matters worse they've added 2 new races (often a sign of desperation in sequels!) and neither of them are any good. Clicking on the sheep doesn't even make them explode anymore... So disappointing...

Metro2033 and STALKER Call of Pripyat finish off my latest shopping spree but the latter still hasn't arrived yet The other game I got was a copy of Left4Dead2 so I could play it on my own Steam account after previously buying an already activated copy (the guy gave me his account though so now my mate uses it and we can play together

So far, FarCry is a fail, Replublic Commando is a pass, Warcraft 3 is a fail and Dead Space is a tremendous pass. Metro2033, STALKER, Farcry2 and Starcraft still need judging though of course the iconic Starcraft shouldn't struggle to satisfy me after a quick revisit

[blueonblack]

So far, FarCry is a fail, Replublic Commando is a pass, Warcraft 3 is a fail and Dead Space is a tremendous pass. Metro2033, STALKER, Farcry2 and Starcraft still need judging though of course the iconic Starcraft shouldn't struggle to satisfy me after a quick revisit

Having played both Farcry games through more than once I have to disagree on that count. The original had a MUCH better storyline and the environments and enemies were a lot more varied. The graphics in Farcry 2 are orders of magnitude better, obviously, but for sheer gameplay and fun I have to say the original was a lot better in my book.

Like anything, it depends on what you're looking for.

[x88x]

Having played both Farcry games through more than once I have to disagree on that count. The original had a MUCH better storyline and the environments and enemies were a lot more varied. The graphics in Farcry 2 are orders of magnitude better, obviously, but for sheer gameplay and fun I have to say the original was a lot better in my book.

I agree. Granted, they're very different types of games, with Fary Cry being more of an open-world FPS with Far Cry 2 being more of a GTA-style RPG. IMO the story is better (more developed, etc) in Far Cry than in Far Cry 2, but that has less to do with the story in Far Cry being particularly good and more to do with the story in Far Cry 2 being just plain awful. That being said, I did enjoy playing through both of them. OOC, Munty, was there anything in particular that put you off Far Cry? Just wondering since, like bOb mentioned, it does have a pretty wide variety of environments and enemies..the things you dislike might go away later in the game.

[Munty]

I honestly made it mere moments into the game before it tipped my frustration meter (sadly that's not too hard but it does take a lot to make me put a game down this quickly!)

I didn't expect any more graphics wise than I got as it's an oldish title by now. Gameplay is also not too bad and the binoculars are a particularly handy tool.

On the flipside, it was the actual level design itself that put me off very fast. Running through sewers, fine. Using machete to kill stupid occupants of small outpost as they filed through the same door their friend just died in, fine. Being met on a beach by 6 troops and two vehicles, fine (as I had a vehicle too and I MGd em all down :p) But having a rocket firing, fast moving patrol boat far enough off shore that it's nigh impossible for me to hit it yet close enough that it is able to hit me no matter where I try to hide? Well that was my first turn off and it took me ages to kill the guy firing at me with the crappy gun you start out with...

The next and final hurdle I had to overcome (made worse by the fact the rockets had nearly killed me, health doesn't regenerate and there are no medkits anywhere to be seen) was an abandonned aircraft carrier crawling with troops packing MGs. I think there's something like 10 enemies, one of whom has a rocket launcher and another 2 are in a boat. All are heavily armed and miles away from me and my crap gun.

Now, before it's said that I gave up because it's too hard, that's not quite true. I managed to kill all of these enemies the first time I played this part of the level and then I moved to the carrier. I jumped down a small ledge and died instantly... We're talking 6 feet or so...

After a shaky start with a rocket boat and heavily armed aircraft carrier I simply figured that this was setting the scene for things to come and I decided to cut my losses there and then. Sure I could've played further in and in time I will, right now though I have so many other, better games to be playing I don't want to waste my time with it.

Flame away :p

[x88x]

I jumped down a small ledge and died instantly... We're talking 6 feet or so...

If I'm thinking of the right spot, I think that's just a "you weren't supposed to go down here and there's no way up so we just put an instant-death zone at the bottom" situation.

The difficulty and enemy AI were definitely two of the aspects that they had to work on balancing after Far Cry...as Yahtzee put it:

While the scenery was expansive and pretty, you couldn't spend much time admiring it before finding your body attempting to occupy the same space as ten million billion bullets fired by enemies with telescopic x-ray vision who could see you hiding in a bush 9,000 yards away

Fortunately, once I got my hands on the sniper rifle, I could also see and kill the enemies from 9,000 yards away.

[Munty]

Thank God it's not just me! I was expecting some less than generous responses given that I clearly gave up on this game very early on I'd love a sniper rifle, it'd almost certainly save the game for me even at this early point. I'm guessing it'll be some time before that's an option though won't it?

EDIT : Hey I've just been reading some faqs and walkthroughs and such and they all mention medpacks you can pick up but so far I haven't seen any... I passed one med box thing in a hut very early on in the first little hamlet but I couldn't use it as I didn't need to and I couldn't carry it either. Not having carryable health items is one of my big problems with this game (especially with non-regenerative health) so can someone clear this up for me as it may help...

[blueonblack]

I passed one med box thing in a hut very early on in the first little hamlet but I couldn't use it as I didn't need to and I couldn't carry it either.

Yep, that was the medkit. And no, you can't carry any, just have to limp along damn near dead and hope you find one. And yes I recall that $&*(@ boat very clearly. I HATE those boats, but that one was the worst. When you DO get the sniper rifle it's a lot of fun picking them off the boats from the shore. (A little bit that I was happy to see was just as fun in Far Cry 2)

[Munty]

Well the good news is I've given the game a revisit and cleared the first three levels with minimal frustration I'm still not particularly impressed with the level design but there are becoming fewer suicidal moments like the first rocket boat...

On the first reload (just before the carrier) I managed to take out all of the opposition without a single shot fired in return which was nice. I think there were only 8 in the end though, not the 10 I thought there were...

Anyway the next level on the ship went fairly well but these enemies are in some pretty tricky places and I kept getting clipped from the gantries as I ddin't know where they were shooting from!

I now have a sniper rifle but only 10 rounds which is disappointing but I guess I'll just save them up till I really need them as the M4 is doing a pretty good job right now anyway.

I'm still by no means being won over by this game but at least I can play through it now and give it a fighting chance. It's going to be fighting for play-time with a few other games I'm already playing but with 3 levels done and 17 to go I guess it shouldn't take me too long anyway. We'll see hey :p

[x88x]

with 3 levels done and 17 to go I guess it shouldn't take me too long anyway. We'll see hey :p

Awww, he hasn't met the thingies yet...