What games are you playing now?

[magerette]

An evil atmosphere, the feeling of depression, despair, and a lack of hope are characteristic of nearly all Blizzard games. I wonder if they keep doing that on purpose...

I know--kind of their trademark, especially in the early days. The original Diablo and Hellfire show it, and even the ending in LOD where basically the world explodes, but somehow it never bothered me with those games. It's probably just my lack of RTS chops combined with the creepiness in TFT.

 

[bkrueger]

From time to time the hunger for new games is gone for a while...

So I made a break from Divinity 2 a few days ago and began to use the Doomsday Engine for a replay of Doom, TNT and Plutonium (these are Paks for Doom 2), Heretic and Hexen.

And since it is so much fun, I also installed eduke32 and the high resolution pack for Duke 3d and "Duke it out in DC".

Both Doomsday and the Duke resolution packs have really good graphics and replaying all these games is refreshing mindless fun.

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

I'm currently in the "newbies town", as I call it , and so far it runs nice, although the graphics aren't that great. I turned shadows off, by the way. The way they flicker beneath moving branches of trees looks great, but somehow also irritating for my taste.

I also found two things ... kind of easter eggs ... And I smiled. If this goes on, then this will be a really nice game.

I strongly fear, however, that with the beginning of the dragon flights my graphics card won't suffice anymore ...

 

[Resch]

More Wizardry VI. I read some guides and seems my party would suck tremendously later in the game. I ditched those losers and spent half the day trying to roll more than 10 bonus points to afford some valkyries and samurais and I loved it.

There are also some FM-Towns versions of older LucasArts games ...

Everything japanese is just better ...

There's also an Ultima VI port with proper sound fx (don't remember if the original had them) and full VO for absolutely everything, even spells. The best part is it's almost all done by Lord British himself and you can't skip any of it.

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Thanks for the information.

Within Divinity 2 , I found out that aiming isn't that easy - I'm playing as a ranger right now.

I think that spell casters and characters with close combat have it easier.

 

[JemyM]

I'm switching back and forth between Grand Theft Auto IV and Starcraft: Brood War. I have found GTA4 to be frustrating. It seems I spend more time traveling from Point A to B than I am doing missions and progressing the story, and when you have to start all over again from the "find a car" part of the mission, then it get's old quickly. Starcraft: Brood War is actually more entertaining, but it's a bit too much to play more than one-two mission at a time. I am currently at the 2nd Terran mission, meaning I am about 40% through the game.

 

[txa1265]

... which is why I think that GTA IV is one of the most over-rated games I have ever touched, even aside from the abysmal PC condition at launch.

 

[JDR13]

Been messing around with Ultima IX a bit. I told myself that I wouldn't get involved in any epic games right now, but I'm really starting to find U9 appealing, despite the horrible interface.

 

[Prime Junta]

... which is why I think that GTA IV is one of the most over-rated games I have ever touched, even aside from the abysmal PC condition at launch.

Is the PC condition any better by now, btw? I'm sorta curious about this. I enjoyed GTA: San Andreas well enough, and the more realistic themes in GTA IV sort of appeal to me. I didn't buy on launch largely because of the condition of the PC version, and partly because I'm not *that* keen on GTA gameplay.

 

[txa1265]

Is the PC condition any better by now, btw? I'm sorta curious about this. I enjoyed GTA: San Andreas well enough, and the more realistic themes in GTA IV sort of appeal to me. I didn't buy on launch largely because of the condition of the PC version, and partly because I'm not *that* keen on GTA gameplay.

It *is* better, as I played it some about a month or so ago (to see if loving GTA Chinatown Wars softened me at all on it). But I found that the juxtaposition of tired mechanics, the 'play MY movie, not your game' feel, and the more realistic stuff made the game feel even worse than some of the others in the series.

 

[DArtagnan]

Been messing around with Ultima IX a bit. I told myself that I wouldn't get involved in any epic games right now, but I'm really starting to find U9 appealing, despite the horrible interface.

Told you it wasn't ALL bad

Let us know how you find it as you get further into it.

 

[JemyM]

Is the PC condition any better by now, btw? I'm sorta curious about this. I enjoyed GTA: San Andreas well enough, and the more realistic themes in GTA IV sort of appeal to me. I didn't buy on launch largely because of the condition of the PC version, and partly because I'm not *that* keen on GTA gameplay.

I play the game due to the open environment and due to it's popularity to see what it was about, but I do not know for how much longer.

Enginewise it runs without problems that I can see, but I am not fond of the games themes, and sometimes it feels like I have no other choice but to do the developers intended choice before my own.

 

[Prime Junta]

Thanks, JemyM. I'll keep it in my second-tier queue, then. If/when it hits the bargain bin, I'll probably snag it.

 

[DArtagnan]

GTA4 is horrible in how it forces you to repeat failed missions, even when you fail near the very end.

This is an archaic design choice that I can't fathom was "overlooked" in reviews, as I find it incredibly weak in how it extends gameplay artificially. It basically killed at least 50% of my enjoyment on the Xbox 360 version. I DESPISE repetition at that level, and I can't possibly be alone in that.

 

[Thrasher]

I'll raise my hand to dislike of mindless repetition.

I'm doing a first playthrough of the Goldbox Forgotten Realm games. Finished Curse of the Azure Bonds and am now on to Secret of the SIlver Blades.

At one point, I almost gave up on Pool of Radiance because of the repetitive boring battles...

 

[Prime Junta]

That sounds bad. I hate mindless repetition, no matter if it's the "whoops, you're dead, please reload" or the "whoops, you failed, please restart" variety. That's just crappy, lazy game design masquerading as challenge.

 

[JDR13]

Told you it wasn't ALL bad

Let us know how you find it as you get further into it.

Heh heh, I found a fan-made program on the web that I bet you would liked to have had when you played it. It not only allows you to tweak multiple variables (Graphics, sounds, key mappings, etc.), but also allows you to adjust the mouse sensitivity.

 

[xSamhainx]

have been hankering for a crime spree game lately, and have been wary of GTA IV due to the negative comments (and the price!) I heard about it for so long. Watching some videos of it last night, I think I might have to give it a go-round here when it hits bargain. Ive played cartoony crime (Vice City, and skipped San Andreas) but this one looks pretty realistic. That might be to it's detriment, see Yahtzee's Saint's Row 2 Review.

Although SR2 looks cartoony, it sounds kinda fun in a ridiculous way, but Ive heard horror stories of performance problems in the game. Anyone played it?

 

[danutz_plusplus]

Although SR2 looks cartoony, it sounds kinda fun in a ridiculous way, but Ive heard horror stories of performance problems in the game. Anyone played it?

Saints Row 2 sucks big time imo. I mean it's mindless, looks ugly as hell, suffers from strong consolitis, the controls are awful, etc etc. GTA4 is a diamond in comparison with SR2 imo. And GTA4 is a cool game anyway. Nico Belic is by far my favorite GTA protagonist. He's honest, smart, street-wise and offers a very solid portrayal of an eastern european person who comes to the west in hopes of a better life, only to find out that it's a more cunning and shifty version of the corrupt system he left home. Plus, the amount of content that went into GTA4 is just amazing. You can watch hours of tv, stand-up comedy acts, theater, play mini-games, etc etc. beside the main game which will last you quite a bit.

 

[Kostas]

and skipped San Andreas

That was a mistake.