- Joined
- Jun 7, 2012
- Messages
- 3,092
Does the turn stain remain in your hands for the rest of the game?
-
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What game are you wasting time on?
- Thread starter Trash
- Start date
After having played some HoMM3 and Heretic, I decided to reinstall No One Lives Forever. Again. It took a bit of fiddling to get the original CD version to work, but nothing too drastic. I've probably reached the magical seventh playthrough by now, but I can't help it, I just love this game, to a point where I might consider it pretty much my favorite shooter all things considered (unless you really want to count Deus Ex as a shooter, which I don't). It's one of those few games where it's hard to point out any real flaws or shortcomings, as almost every aspect of it is so damn good, and it only feels like it's getting better with time because of the severe drought in the FPS genre. Some people probably hate the forced stealth sections, but even those have never bothered me as they make sense in the context.
It's a death sentence for an FPS if killing stuff doesn't feel good. For me the prime example satisfying FPS combat is Doom, but NOLF approaches violence from a very different angle. There's not much blood (it is a spy game and aesthetically closer to James Bond than anything else), there's no gore, and there's not even a shotgun in the game. Still, the combat manages to be very satisfying: All of the weapons pack a real punch, sounding good and being appropriately deadly, so that even the basic pistols are fun to use. There are no bullet sponges, everything dies if you shoot it a few times. The death animations are great, just that little bit exaggerated so that killing people is fun but not comical, also including stuff like enemies falling down from balconies and being nailed to the walls with harpoons or crossbow bolts aside from the standard locational death animations which were rivaled by only a couple of games until ragdolls became the norm. It just feels right. The weapon selection itself is quite heavily focused on pistols and submachine guns, but you've also got all kinds of exotic stuff from spearguns to laser pistols and from lipstick grenades to rocket-shooting briefcases, and the light weapon modding (meaning silencers and scopes) and a bunch of different ammo types are also nice additions.
The stealth element of the game is pretty basic, and it isn't really designed for ghosting or anything, but it works nicely when combined with shooting things, allowing you to beat the vast majority of levels quietly without setting off the alarm, sometimes knocking out the enemies, sometimes taking them out one by one with silenced weapons, and sometimes avoiding them altogether. NOLF is sometimes mistaken as a stealth game, but it's clearly a shooter that just uses stealth to spice things up, and as such it works exceptionally well. The spy gadgets are fun, creative and clever (sunglasses with built-in camera and binoculars which can also be used to detect mines and infrared lasers; cigarette lighter that can not only start fires but also works as a welding torch; a barrette serving as either a lockpick or a poison dagger...), although some of them are maybe a bit underused or too contextual, like the belt buckle that has a zip cord built into it. The AI knows a bunch of tricks, is able to flank you if given the chance, and is generally just fun to fight because the enemies are neither superhuman nor total pushovers. It's the little things that just make the gameplay as fun as it is.
Aside from the gameplay NOLF shines on many other areas as well. It still looks and sounds remarkably good, with excellent voice-acting and a brilliant soundtrack, although it's a shame that from what I know of there's no proper way to make it work on widescreen monitors (I'm using an unofficial widescreen patch that just cuts off a part from the top of the screen while keeping the original FOV intact, and because of some engine limitation it also keeps the weapon models in the 4:3 aspect ratio). The writing is excellent, and the game is fun as hell without ever drifting into outright parody territory (unlike the sequel, which is much more inconsistent and almost tone-deaf at times) — it's got some ridiculous moments and over-the-top villains, but it always takes itself seriously on some level, kind of like the classic Bond movies. Think of the more grounded Roger Moore films, except with a main character that is much less of a comedian and a bit of From Russia with Love and On Her Majesty's Secret Service thrown into the mix. Oh, and also some intentionally campy stuff from Moonraker and the likes, but done with a much better taste.
It's also remarkably consistent, with each of the fifteen missions being pretty damn good and offering a wide variety of locations, each one perfectly in line with the 60's spy theme. There are just too many levels and moments to mention: falling from a plane without a parachute, escaping a sinking ship and later returning to search its wreck at the bottom of the sea, posing as a journalist trying to get information out of a baron that is probably a bit of a cuck, infiltrating a skyscraper to steal documents from a high-security safe on the top floor, going to the tropics looking for a space rocket test site, blowing up a space station, driving around the alps in a snowmobile (hey, I think I finally found an actual flaw, as the thing handles like shit)... Almost every damn mission could be seen as a highlight of some sort, and the pacing is always spot-on. The level design itself is not all that spectacular, as the levels aren't exactly huge or particularly complex, but they're not pure corridors either and often give you a couple of different ways to get around, and the amount of variety in the locales helps keep things fresh. It's a lengthy game, but no part of it feels like filler.
It's a shame that the game is where it is now, in some sort of limbo where no one knows who owns the rights anymore, or something. The sequel is a fun game too, but unfortunately it didn't come even close to reaching the same level of quality. It had some actual gameplay improvements especially considering stealth (hiding in shadows, carrying bodies, searching containers, having traps and tranquilizer darts and tasers and other toys), but it felt like they weren't sure whether they were making an homage or a parody, James Bond or Austin Powers, and the end result was rather disjointed and uneven, with some excellent missions, some blatantly obvious filler and a dumb plot that didn't fit the tone and fell apart almost immediately after it had got going. Not sure if I'm going to bother with it at this time.
It's a death sentence for an FPS if killing stuff doesn't feel good. For me the prime example satisfying FPS combat is Doom, but NOLF approaches violence from a very different angle. There's not much blood (it is a spy game and aesthetically closer to James Bond than anything else), there's no gore, and there's not even a shotgun in the game. Still, the combat manages to be very satisfying: All of the weapons pack a real punch, sounding good and being appropriately deadly, so that even the basic pistols are fun to use. There are no bullet sponges, everything dies if you shoot it a few times. The death animations are great, just that little bit exaggerated so that killing people is fun but not comical, also including stuff like enemies falling down from balconies and being nailed to the walls with harpoons or crossbow bolts aside from the standard locational death animations which were rivaled by only a couple of games until ragdolls became the norm. It just feels right. The weapon selection itself is quite heavily focused on pistols and submachine guns, but you've also got all kinds of exotic stuff from spearguns to laser pistols and from lipstick grenades to rocket-shooting briefcases, and the light weapon modding (meaning silencers and scopes) and a bunch of different ammo types are also nice additions.
The stealth element of the game is pretty basic, and it isn't really designed for ghosting or anything, but it works nicely when combined with shooting things, allowing you to beat the vast majority of levels quietly without setting off the alarm, sometimes knocking out the enemies, sometimes taking them out one by one with silenced weapons, and sometimes avoiding them altogether. NOLF is sometimes mistaken as a stealth game, but it's clearly a shooter that just uses stealth to spice things up, and as such it works exceptionally well. The spy gadgets are fun, creative and clever (sunglasses with built-in camera and binoculars which can also be used to detect mines and infrared lasers; cigarette lighter that can not only start fires but also works as a welding torch; a barrette serving as either a lockpick or a poison dagger...), although some of them are maybe a bit underused or too contextual, like the belt buckle that has a zip cord built into it. The AI knows a bunch of tricks, is able to flank you if given the chance, and is generally just fun to fight because the enemies are neither superhuman nor total pushovers. It's the little things that just make the gameplay as fun as it is.
Aside from the gameplay NOLF shines on many other areas as well. It still looks and sounds remarkably good, with excellent voice-acting and a brilliant soundtrack, although it's a shame that from what I know of there's no proper way to make it work on widescreen monitors (I'm using an unofficial widescreen patch that just cuts off a part from the top of the screen while keeping the original FOV intact, and because of some engine limitation it also keeps the weapon models in the 4:3 aspect ratio). The writing is excellent, and the game is fun as hell without ever drifting into outright parody territory (unlike the sequel, which is much more inconsistent and almost tone-deaf at times) — it's got some ridiculous moments and over-the-top villains, but it always takes itself seriously on some level, kind of like the classic Bond movies. Think of the more grounded Roger Moore films, except with a main character that is much less of a comedian and a bit of From Russia with Love and On Her Majesty's Secret Service thrown into the mix. Oh, and also some intentionally campy stuff from Moonraker and the likes, but done with a much better taste.
It's also remarkably consistent, with each of the fifteen missions being pretty damn good and offering a wide variety of locations, each one perfectly in line with the 60's spy theme. There are just too many levels and moments to mention: falling from a plane without a parachute, escaping a sinking ship and later returning to search its wreck at the bottom of the sea, posing as a journalist trying to get information out of a baron that is probably a bit of a cuck, infiltrating a skyscraper to steal documents from a high-security safe on the top floor, going to the tropics looking for a space rocket test site, blowing up a space station, driving around the alps in a snowmobile (hey, I think I finally found an actual flaw, as the thing handles like shit)... Almost every damn mission could be seen as a highlight of some sort, and the pacing is always spot-on. The level design itself is not all that spectacular, as the levels aren't exactly huge or particularly complex, but they're not pure corridors either and often give you a couple of different ways to get around, and the amount of variety in the locales helps keep things fresh. It's a lengthy game, but no part of it feels like filler.
It's a shame that the game is where it is now, in some sort of limbo where no one knows who owns the rights anymore, or something. The sequel is a fun game too, but unfortunately it didn't come even close to reaching the same level of quality. It had some actual gameplay improvements especially considering stealth (hiding in shadows, carrying bodies, searching containers, having traps and tranquilizer darts and tasers and other toys), but it felt like they weren't sure whether they were making an homage or a parody, James Bond or Austin Powers, and the end result was rather disjointed and uneven, with some excellent missions, some blatantly obvious filler and a dumb plot that didn't fit the tone and fell apart almost immediately after it had got going. Not sure if I'm going to bother with it at this time.
How is that a shame? Would you really want a Modern Take (tm) on NOLF?
iqzulk
Augur
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2012
- Messages
- 294
For some reason, I have always felt, like the first NOLF was tonally much more akin to, say, "Charade", than to something like "You only Live Twice" (although it can be very much argued as to whether this movie can be considered a fair representation of the entirety of Connery's bondiana) or "Octopussy" (I think, in general, Moore's bondiana, despite being quite similar to NOLF1 in the tone of its irony, just wasn't all that 60s anymore). Despite, you know, "Charade" not being a superspy movie.
I am no expert on the spy fiction genre as represented in cinema though (although I did see, I think, every pre-2000 Bond movie, "Never Say Never Again" included, a relative was a MAJOR fan, you see).
P.S. I must admit, that I don't remember "From Russia with Love" and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", like, at all, other than the fact that I've seen each of them once, and the fact that me-then found "From Russia with Love", like, excruciatingly boring. I wonder, whether I should rewatch those two in particular, I'm quite curious as to how I would react to them as I am right now.
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I think he was just talking about you not being able to buy the game anywhere. Not even on GOG. And there is no chance that game coming do digital marketplaces. I had to buy a fucking old gaming magazin a few months ago to get NOLF, as it was a bonus game given to the magazine.
Also, on a related note, I finished Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive recently. It was a pretty interesting game when it came to how it made use of the Commandos formula.
Because Commandos were a bit bipolar - on the one hand, they could be ridiculously unforgiving, and just a single alarm going off could flood you with so many 5 man patrols that it would essentially mean game over. But on the other, it was so ripe for exploits that you could often clear entire levels by just planting all your dudes around a corner with their guns raised and waiting for incoming soldaten. Not to mention the expansion that made it even easier by essentially giving you an unlimited number of spies (KO + puppet a soldier).
Now, Desperados. On first glance, it looks like a Commandos clone, alright. You have dudes with roughly similar abilities (green berret Cooper who can clear entire maps almost by himself, sapper Sam, sniper Doc, spy Kate), you have patrols and stationary guards, etc. But Desperados seems very aware of all the exploits that let you play Commandos in all the ways it was very obviously not intended to play it... and it doesn't really try to discourage you. In fact, I'd say the maps are made around that. Desperados isn't really a stealth game per se, it's just a typical western - you are encourged to go into shootouts, throwing TNT, sniping, shanking and getting the hell out of Dodge. If you manage to stealth through and go without that, good on you. But doing otherwise never really feels cheap. It also never really has any barracks/patrol dispensers around, which also doesn't punish you for going guns blazing.
I also really liked some of the added mechanics, like the changed line of sight that made crawling and getting spotted less binary, or guards reacting to other sentries being missing, or the difference terrain makes on how sound carries (like sounds bouncing further from rocky corridors). A few of the levels were really tough to crack thanks to the tight nets of sentries looking at one another and going apeshit if one of them disappeared.
Desperados also nails the western feel really well. Some really classy levels and scenes can be found here, I particularly liked springing Sanchez from the prison fort or having to collect your scattered bros and run away from the town right after collecting the bounty on him. Bandidos vs US cavalry clusterfuck was also supercool. Or that level where you step off the train straight into a high noon staredown on the train station.
Last two levels (El Diablo's cave hideout + poppin' moles from behind chairs) were kind of shit, though, but everything before those was super solid.
Because Commandos were a bit bipolar - on the one hand, they could be ridiculously unforgiving, and just a single alarm going off could flood you with so many 5 man patrols that it would essentially mean game over. But on the other, it was so ripe for exploits that you could often clear entire levels by just planting all your dudes around a corner with their guns raised and waiting for incoming soldaten. Not to mention the expansion that made it even easier by essentially giving you an unlimited number of spies (KO + puppet a soldier).
Now, Desperados. On first glance, it looks like a Commandos clone, alright. You have dudes with roughly similar abilities (green berret Cooper who can clear entire maps almost by himself, sapper Sam, sniper Doc, spy Kate), you have patrols and stationary guards, etc. But Desperados seems very aware of all the exploits that let you play Commandos in all the ways it was very obviously not intended to play it... and it doesn't really try to discourage you. In fact, I'd say the maps are made around that. Desperados isn't really a stealth game per se, it's just a typical western - you are encourged to go into shootouts, throwing TNT, sniping, shanking and getting the hell out of Dodge. If you manage to stealth through and go without that, good on you. But doing otherwise never really feels cheap. It also never really has any barracks/patrol dispensers around, which also doesn't punish you for going guns blazing.
I also really liked some of the added mechanics, like the changed line of sight that made crawling and getting spotted less binary, or guards reacting to other sentries being missing, or the difference terrain makes on how sound carries (like sounds bouncing further from rocky corridors). A few of the levels were really tough to crack thanks to the tight nets of sentries looking at one another and going apeshit if one of them disappeared.
Desperados also nails the western feel really well. Some really classy levels and scenes can be found here, I particularly liked springing Sanchez from the prison fort or having to collect your scattered bros and run away from the town right after collecting the bounty on him. Bandidos vs US cavalry clusterfuck was also supercool. Or that level where you step off the train straight into a high noon staredown on the train station.
Last two levels (El Diablo's cave hideout + poppin' moles from behind chairs) were kind of shit, though, but everything before those was super solid.
I've watched some of the 60's and 70's Bond movies recently, so those are just the ones that came to mind first. The influences certainly go deeper than Bond, of course. From Moore I was mainly thinking of stuff along the lines of The Spy Who Loved me rather than an outright farce like Octopussy, although NOLF seems to be lifting stuff from everywhere, from the locations to individual scenes. Charade was likely one of the influences, as in the winter scenes you can see Cate Archer dressing almost like Audrey Hepburn in that movie (yeah, I'll stop with the women's fashion analysis right here), but it's probably just the top of the iceberg as far as 60's stuff is concerned.
I think From Russia with Love might be my favorite Bond film. It's rather slow-paced and low-key, rather faithful to the book as well from what I've heard. One of the most action-packed scenes in it consists of Bond just searching his hotel room for surveillance equipment, and the storyline revolves around finding a cipher machine. All in all, it's a nice Cold War spy thriller that happens to have James Bond as a main character. OHMSS has probably gradually gained a lot more recognition after its release, and I think it's definitely up there among the best films in the series. Some people claim it's the closest the series ever got to Ian Fleming's Bond, and there's definitely a rather unique feel about it. It might still be one of the best-looking Bond movies, save for some outdated green screen action scenes.
No, but I would get a GOG version with proper Win 10 support if such a thing became available, because I'd like the game to remain playable for the next sixteen years as well. You can get it to run nowadays, but it's not quite ideal, and I doubt it's going to get any better. There's also something plain wrong about a game from 2000 being practically impossible to buy nowadays, even though I do own the original version myself.
baturinsky
Arcane
Fall From Heaven 2
Started Svartalfar, but got kinda bad start, forcing me into a long thin corridor between a sea and mountain range. Lack of siege units made it too hard to carve big enough chunk from enemy lands.
Then I had to fight two wars on opposite sides of my noodlestate, and kinda get tired of it. And of being an evil guy. So I put it on hold. Also, I have already played with (other) elves, so I'm familiar with their shtick of uber forest economy, so I have decided to try something new.
Now playing Luchiurp. Well, their golems are great, but lack of mages is not quite fun. Some AI dared to declare on me having just warriors and some horseman, and my golems wiped him clean out. Before even catapults arrived. Now my state is, again, noodlish, but it's way fatter noodle, with lots of nodes and metals. Looks like I got nearly half of map for me. Remaining AIs have split in pairs and fighting each other, and each one is keeping askng me to join in. Only one not fighting is Balserafs, who is just keeping harassing one of my minor cities with Loki casting morale-reducing spell.
EDIT: Derp, I find out Fireballs can serve the role of siege units, and that Luchiurp have mages (unlike other dwarven civ). I forgot a lot since last time I played...
Started Svartalfar, but got kinda bad start, forcing me into a long thin corridor between a sea and mountain range. Lack of siege units made it too hard to carve big enough chunk from enemy lands.
Then I had to fight two wars on opposite sides of my noodlestate, and kinda get tired of it. And of being an evil guy. So I put it on hold. Also, I have already played with (other) elves, so I'm familiar with their shtick of uber forest economy, so I have decided to try something new.
Now playing Luchiurp. Well, their golems are great, but lack of mages is not quite fun. Some AI dared to declare on me having just warriors and some horseman, and my golems wiped him clean out. Before even catapults arrived. Now my state is, again, noodlish, but it's way fatter noodle, with lots of nodes and metals. Looks like I got nearly half of map for me. Remaining AIs have split in pairs and fighting each other, and each one is keeping askng me to join in. Only one not fighting is Balserafs, who is just keeping harassing one of my minor cities with Loki casting morale-reducing spell.
EDIT: Derp, I find out Fireballs can serve the role of siege units, and that Luchiurp have mages (unlike other dwarven civ). I forgot a lot since last time I played...
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PeachPlumage
Cipher
- Joined
- May 28, 2015
- Messages
- 522
Shadowrun: Hong Kong 
spekkio
Arcane
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2009
- Messages
- 8,289
Gave up on Devil May Cry 1 shortly after 1st boss.
I mean:
- Fast-paced 3D action game with fixed camera angles? Are you kidding me?
- Harvest souls to unlock new moves, but it's actually pointless, since due to the camera, the best "tactic" is:
a) keep your distance from enemies and use guns to fill the "limit bar".
b) unleash the "devil" mode and finish off enemies with your sword.
c) yeah, that's it.
- Constant cuntscenes, showing you HOW AWESOME Dante is. Jebus crist, I don't mind some over-the-top silliness, but only IF it's coupled with proper gameplay.
- Respawning enemies. Works in metroidvania, ys, a lot of games. But not in a resident evil - like environment. Dunno why, I just don't like it here.
- "You just launched a secret mission. Achieve some pointless, boring goal to get more souls". :awesome:
Verdict:
Not my cup of tea.
I mean:
- Fast-paced 3D action game with fixed camera angles? Are you kidding me?
- Harvest souls to unlock new moves, but it's actually pointless, since due to the camera, the best "tactic" is:
a) keep your distance from enemies and use guns to fill the "limit bar".
b) unleash the "devil" mode and finish off enemies with your sword.
c) yeah, that's it.
- Constant cuntscenes, showing you HOW AWESOME Dante is. Jebus crist, I don't mind some over-the-top silliness, but only IF it's coupled with proper gameplay.
- Respawning enemies. Works in metroidvania, ys, a lot of games. But not in a resident evil - like environment. Dunno why, I just don't like it here.
- "You just launched a secret mission. Achieve some pointless, boring goal to get more souls". :awesome:
Verdict:
Not my cup of tea.
Playing as the Cherokee in the E:TW Warpath DLC with DarthMod. It's pretty damn entertaining actually, I'm surprised at how much fun I'm having. Even though I love the time period of line infantry and all that shit, it's quite satisfying ambushing the white man with my braves, and OP medicine men.
I also revisited the New Vegas DLCs for one last time before ending my second current playthrough, now siding with the Legion. The DLCs show some promise but the overall execution is so infuriating. I can't say I enjoyed a single one of them. It just isn't any fun for me. Old World Blues had some nice touches but going around Big Mountain putting up with all the bullshit (robo-scorpions in particular) just wears me down. The same can be said for the others too. Dead Money is a textbook example of how not to a design a game. Dead Money - aside from some sparse interesting moments - is absolutely fucking atrocious. Additionally, the only fun bit of Lonesome Road was when I shot Ulysses in the back from long range with my Anti-Material Rifle. Goddamn that was funny. He had prepared another one of his long-winded speeches for me and I just go in there and shoot him with an explosive round. Ahh, RPGs. As for Honest Hearts... meh. That's all I really have to say about it. Just meh. The base game is as solid as ever though. Oh and guys, if it hasn't been made abundantly clear yet for you:
War... war never changes. It just doesn't. Seasons change, people change, but war doesn't. You might say that it's unchangeable. War, that is. It's cool I need to be reminded of this fact every time I do anything in Fallout.
I also revisited the New Vegas DLCs for one last time before ending my second current playthrough, now siding with the Legion. The DLCs show some promise but the overall execution is so infuriating. I can't say I enjoyed a single one of them. It just isn't any fun for me. Old World Blues had some nice touches but going around Big Mountain putting up with all the bullshit (robo-scorpions in particular) just wears me down. The same can be said for the others too. Dead Money is a textbook example of how not to a design a game. Dead Money - aside from some sparse interesting moments - is absolutely fucking atrocious. Additionally, the only fun bit of Lonesome Road was when I shot Ulysses in the back from long range with my Anti-Material Rifle. Goddamn that was funny. He had prepared another one of his long-winded speeches for me and I just go in there and shoot him with an explosive round. Ahh, RPGs. As for Honest Hearts... meh. That's all I really have to say about it. Just meh. The base game is as solid as ever though. Oh and guys, if it hasn't been made abundantly clear yet for you:
War... war never changes. It just doesn't. Seasons change, people change, but war doesn't. You might say that it's unchangeable. War, that is. It's cool I need to be reminded of this fact every time I do anything in Fallout.
Siveon
Bot
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2013
- Messages
- 4,509
You may have missed the point of a spectacle fighter. While in later levels you would certainly have to evolve from your tactic to survive, it's also about trying to defeat enemies for the highest score. You know, those ranks you see on the top left. Basically like the mindset of a shmup player that's playing a fighter if that makes any sense. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I thought you should know all the same.Verdict:
Not my cup of tea.
Oh, and the camera is arse though. I'd blame the series RE origins and hardware limitation. There's always Bayonetta, God Hand, or Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Personally I'm not a fan of the God of War side of the genre with the bloated QTEs but I guess that's an option.
I don't know if I should brofist, salute or hug you.
Desperados is truly a wonderful game.
Siveon
Bot
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2013
- Messages
- 4,509
He's right on the money about Commandos too. I checked almost every level if they allowed me to camp and group ambush nazis with my handgun squad. Hell, in some levels I couldn't fathom how to do it otherwise. I want to check out Desperados now, definitely.
Soulcucker
Savant
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2015
- Messages
- 235
Red Alert 2 
Love this game, peak of the series. Gorgeous 2D graphics, great soundtrack by Frank Klepacki, difficulty is just right, units sets are excellent, and both campaigns are comprised of solid missions. The only thing that is disappointing are the cinematics/mission briefings which play up the corniness a little too much for my liking.
Yuri's Revenge
Amazing expansion pack. Every one of the fourteen missions is significant making the campaigns as substantial as Red Alert 2. My only major complaint is having to deal with psychic units becomes tiresome.
C&C Generals
Far more mediocre than I remember. Missions are mostly straight forward affairs with little creativity outside of the GLA campaign, Chinese and American units are too plain, and the story is stale. This game did introduce some interesting mechanics to the series: the addition of commander abilities, individual unit upgrades, and GLA vehicles scavenging for upgrades. The GLA part of this game is excellent, it is too bad that the rest is boring.
Love this game, peak of the series. Gorgeous 2D graphics, great soundtrack by Frank Klepacki, difficulty is just right, units sets are excellent, and both campaigns are comprised of solid missions. The only thing that is disappointing are the cinematics/mission briefings which play up the corniness a little too much for my liking.
Yuri's Revenge
Amazing expansion pack. Every one of the fourteen missions is significant making the campaigns as substantial as Red Alert 2. My only major complaint is having to deal with psychic units becomes tiresome.
C&C Generals
Far more mediocre than I remember. Missions are mostly straight forward affairs with little creativity outside of the GLA campaign, Chinese and American units are too plain, and the story is stale. This game did introduce some interesting mechanics to the series: the addition of commander abilities, individual unit upgrades, and GLA vehicles scavenging for upgrades. The GLA part of this game is excellent, it is too bad that the rest is boring.
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2010
- Messages
- 10,872
What did you think the seventh portal was
Fighter is easier/more boring than the other classes IMO, but still quite fun.
Decided to replay Shadowrun: Hong Kong now that the extended edition has been out for a while.
I don't know if it's because I'm playing a decker and not taking or speaking to Is0bel, but this playthrough has been far more enjoyable than my first.
The game is still plagued with bugs, typos and glitches but it's hard not to appreciate a solid, turn based isometric rpg that lets you roleplay your character in a decent amount of ways. I'm even enjoying the combat more than I did previously, although I'm not really sure why.
I also played through the epilogue for the first time and it was surprisingly solid. A little combat heavy in parts, but the final mission especially was pretty great.
Think I'm going to do a third playthrough of Dragonfall shortly as well, I do love a cyberpunk setting.
I don't know if it's because I'm playing a decker and not taking or speaking to Is0bel, but this playthrough has been far more enjoyable than my first.
The game is still plagued with bugs, typos and glitches but it's hard not to appreciate a solid, turn based isometric rpg that lets you roleplay your character in a decent amount of ways. I'm even enjoying the combat more than I did previously, although I'm not really sure why.
I also played through the epilogue for the first time and it was surprisingly solid. A little combat heavy in parts, but the final mission especially was pretty great.
I went for the "triad" ending and I'm pretty happy how it played out. I was getting pretty sick of Duncan's whining, so I wasn't too upset when he cried and left. I am slightly surprised nobody said anything when I let Krait go, oversight maybe?
Think I'm going to do a third playthrough of Dragonfall shortly as well, I do love a cyberpunk setting.
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I've found it somewhat more difficult so far, with no ranged attacks, and the flachettes being useless (they are highly useful for a Cleric).
iqzulk
Augur
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2012
- Messages
- 294
I am sorry for my intrusion, but WUT? Mage's HeXen playthrough, on the max difficulty, is literally running around with your first weapon (precise non-reflectable non-mana-consuming infinite range hitscan which pierces through as many enemies as it manages to intersect), not ever lifting a finger from the fire button, and switching to third (more stunlock for the stunlock God) or fourth weapon, like, a couple of dozen of times over the course of the entire game (like, there is 20 to 30 times more mana in the game, than the Mage, on the max difficulty, would ever need). And yes, the entire final location of the original game can be cleansed on the max difficulty using first weapon only. Mage in this game is, like, a godlike superhuman, sneering and chuckling at puny laughable attempts of other two to put up any semblance of a fight.
Actually, come to think of it, I am quite unsure, as to how exactly Deathkings of Dark Citadel on max difficulty is meant to be completed by a non-Mage (especially if one considers, that not just Ettins respawn in this mission pack, but all the other non-boss enemies as well - which would mean serious mana problems for the other two classes).
By the way, on the unrelated note. I am sorry to impose myself like that, but I am basically now playing Jedi Knight and Mysteries of the Sith simultaneously - and you seem like the the biggest fan of the Lucas part of the series around. Don't you think that Jedi Knight, the original one, features an ungodly amount of "cinematic" sequences about being blown through or washed down linear sequences of pipes, and a blatant overuse of Drop Downs Of No Return (missed a secret? better luck next time!)? And, moreover, that the division between actual secrets (that count toward the counter and DON'T require Force powers in order to be found) and Force-nonsecrets (that require the usage of Force, that do not count toward the counter, and that are kept rather straightforward) leads to the situation, that the entire secret-thing is severely underutilized in this particular game (which was brilliantly rectified via what I've seen of MotS, which gives one Speed and Jump outright and builds the levels around them, instead of basic character running and jumping abilities)?
Actually, my honest impressions about the series so far are:
Dark Forces is, like, a semi-playable alpha-version of Jedi Knight. I had countless gripes with it (almost all were fixed in JK) and I dropped it when those BFG-weilding fucks appeared on the 9th level (the "BFG" itself shooting wherever it likes, as opposed to wherever I pointed it, didn't help), having watched the remaining portion via lparchive hard difficulty LP. Like, I would place it in the same tier as, say, Venom: Codename: Outbreak (which I also coincidentally dropped in the second half). That is, something like D+/C-.
Jedi Knight is alright mechanics-wise, but the levels are linear, too spacious for their own good, with very simplistic, for the most part, secrets (Quake had this grenade-jump secret on E4M4, the accelerate-up-the-ramp-secret on E4M1, some other imaginative stuff, Shadow Warrior had clever manipulations of pushable and rotatable geometry - nothing of the sort here) and overabundance of drops and being cinematically blown through pipes. Also, boring copypasted imperial base on level 6 and Redneck-Rampage-sewers worthy level 8 with the rooftops bullshit. The town in level 5 was honestly fun, but doesn't, even close, compare to, say, Downtown Hickston from aforementioned Redneck Rampage. Also, the levels are very much Force_Speed/Jump-exploitable. And, maybe, some of them are too busy looking pretty or impressive, as opposed to being mechanically engaging. Also, Jedi bossfights so far seem to be pure circle-strafe-alt-lightsaber-hack-fests, absolutely identical to one another. I am currently on the level with the falling ship (seems to be this game's "Max Payne 1's restaurant on fire" analogue).
Mysteries of the Sith, so far (I am on the third level though), however, is absolutely wonderful (despite looking, so far, like shit, in the software mode and when compared to the original game, that is), and I'm having an absolute blast with it, and the same kind of fun I had on Cybermage, Shadow Warrior and the best levels from Redneck Rampage (only, now, with a proper combat mechanics). How it will compare to those games eventually, I won't know until I complete the entire game, but so far, I was immensely pleased with what they did and how they learned from their mistakes.
So, here, I finally got it off my chest - and there was much rejoicing everywhere.
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80Maxwell08
Arcane
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2012
- Messages
- 1,154
So I've been alternating between Mask of the Betrayer and Storm of Zehir and good lord did these games deserve a better engine. I've already had several crashes and scripting errors along with encountering an unfinished quest barely into SoZ. God I wish there was some patch that fixed these issues because I'm seriously getting into these games but another issue jumps up and knocks me right out. Still, I might try some of these other modules and mods later.
DeepOcean
Arcane
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2012
- Messages
- 7,395
Man, it is pretty strange, loved every single Monolith game but NOLF left me with a bad taste, is NOLF 2 so bad? It looks like it fixed most of the things that made me rage quit NOLF.
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