Main Menu

Last game played...

Started by Keef Monkey, 11 June, 2011, 09:35:35 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

GrudgeJohnDeed

i definitely remember getting a shotgun and not having enough ammo to deal with the enemies and getting swarmed. but theres a randomness and youd get a machine gun every other attempt. then youre laughing.

what did the dog mask do?

radiator

Stop dogs attacking you - very very useful on a few on the levels as they can be a nightmare and you can't seem to harm them while unarmed.

The wolf mask (start with a knife equipped) was extremely useful on one of the levels, but it's short-lived - you'll likely end up discarding the knife in short order.

There's also a mask which allows you to survive one gunshot which is handy.

The lethal doors are a very useful and dependable way of dispatching many enemies quickly and with little risk - you can just hole up in a confined space and kill all those who try and enter.

I love the open approach to combat and scenarios - wish more games took this tack rather than the usual prescribed/scripted blandness.

The weird forced stealth level, however, can bite me. An unfortunate, tiresome wrinkle in an otherwise wonderfully tight, joyful game experience. Luckily it's short.

The games an absolute bargain at something like £6.50 on PS3, and even cheaper than that on PC/Mac.

radiator

Should also say that I was finding the game extremely difficult early on, until I discovered the 'lock-on' function (click down the stick on PS3)!

GrudgeJohnDeed

yeah i bet, its so fast paced and twitchy. i think the pc version had some kind of lock on but i preferred using the mouse to aim, however on a controller i bet its essential.

also sounds like you used many more masks than me, when i found the guns (pig?) mask and my new strategy, i stuck with that. I tend to do that in games, i should perhaps experiment more!!

This game really inspired me when i played it, gameplay-wise. But also made me think how it could be improved (to my tastes). I was working on top-down dredd prototype, with a huge focus on stealth. Ill come back to it one day


Professor Bear

I keep meaning to actually play Hotline Miami proper seeing as I have paid for the fucking thing, but I gave up and set it aside for later after roughly 90 seconds when I realised the control setup seemed more for pc snobs.  Three whole buttons for a top-down shootah?  Yer 'avin' a laugh, son - it ain't the 1980s anymore.

Uncharted 1 and 2.  Dunno why I went back to these, but in the end I was playing through on a trophy mop-up - that did not take very long at all - as I may as well get the platinums since they aren't the hardest of games even on "crushing" difficulty.  I never noticed the fine balance of the combat on these games before that punishes impatience but makes every situation survivable, and I was surprised to see that a lot of the stuff that people were seeing as innovative in the Last of Us has its root in even the oldest of Naughty Dog's third person actioners, such as characters making a run for you if they hear the click of an empty gun, or their trying to flank you as a team, which isn't apparent in lower difficulties because a stiff breeze/blind shooting knocks them over, but when they can take a few shots before going down they really start to be a pain in the arse.
Particularly in U2's later levels, there's also a use of three dimensional puzzles that couldn't work in 2d, especially the Tibetan drums inside the mountain or the dagger room in Nepal, which are fantastic pieces of environment and puzzle design.  Credit where it's due to the developers for listening to players, as the amount of QTE stuff from Uncharted 1 is drastically reduced in the sequel and what there is has been changed to more arcade-oriented single-button timing exercises where you aren't just scanning the edges of the screen looking to see what buttons you push next as was the case with U1 (that final boss showdown feeling a bit cheap as a result).  I especially like that a couple of QTEs are basically first person shooting sequences, and I like that they're spread out during story moments so that even the longest cutscene is only 4 minutes long, the average being 90 seconds.
Damn good games, if a bit easy.  Like many others, I used to carelessly attribute their gameplay to being derivative of Tomb Raider, but on reflection they're more in the arcade-y vein of Edward Randy or Pitfall, particularly U2's mountainside truck chases and rooftop helicopter battles.  The multiplayer experience of Uncharted 2 was a pleasant surprise, though - and not just seeing as the servers are still going - as it's essentially more levels of the game but with more gung-ho NPC companions (unless you get really thick or bad players on your team), though the goals and objectives seemed a bit basic.

Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time - older-school platforming action aimed at kids, one assumes, because of the bright colours and cartoon animals, but as with the previous Cooper games there's the odd tricky bit in among the usual explore and collect gameplay.  Otherwise it's a solid and pretty laid-back playing experience and a better PS3 outing for a PS2 platforming mainstay than the increasingly-tiresome and rough-edged Ratchet and Clank games.  It's solidly-made, rarely frustrating unless you're a button-masher who doesn't like learning patterns of boss attacks or suchlike, and my only gripe would be that it doesn't look like it's taxing the PS3 hardware too much for a game coming out this late in the machine's lifespan, even for a budget title - you can get Okami or Shadow of the Colossus for half this price, though unlike me you might actually play those after you fork over cash for them.

radiator

Haven't played the PC version so not really sure what you mean, but surely most of the aiming and shooting is done with the mouse? Isn't wasd the standard move setup for every PC shooter?

JamesC

Yesterday I traded in my Xbox 360 for a PS3 so that I could play all of the exclusives I've missed out on.

I had a quick go on Uncharted last night, which I knew I'd love, and it hasn't disappointed so I'll be getting the sequels too. I'll also be picking up The Last Of Us as I've heard nothing but good things about it.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for 'must play' PS3 games?  (I'm mainly looking for exclusives as I played things like the Mass Effect trilogy and the Arkham games on my old 360).

Goaty


God of War 3?
Heavy Rain?
Infamous?

Bobblehead

#593
Quote from: Goaty on 30 July, 2013, 09:38:05 AM

God of War 3?
Heavy Rain?
Infamous?

What he said! I'd also like to add Killzone 2. Killzone 3 is more polished and looks better but i found it full of gimmicky things like the jetpack and the levels where you were on a gunship/vehicle were just boring and slowed the action down (imo anyway).
Resistance 3 is a great game too,also an fps tho.Just google the storys from the first two and youll be ok :P

Edit: forget to mention Tales of Graces F. Its a remake of an old wii game i think but its not on xbox so ill count it as PS3 exclusive :P  Amazing RPG with loads to do,great voice acting,some genuine laugh out loud moments and a fantastic story and combat system. What more do you want?! :)

shaolin_monkey

There's some interesting stuff on the PS3 store, such as Flower, an HD version of Shadow of the Colossus, and so much more!  I wish I still had my PS3. I miss Agro.

radiator

I'm really not a 'fanboy' either way - I'm a grown man so have no childish loyalty to or hatred for either console manufacturer and I own both a PS3 and 360 - but purely down to my personal taste, there's very, very little that appeals to me games-wise on the PS3.

I don't like narrative-heavy, blockbuster type games so have no interest in Uncharted or The Last of Us. Not saying they're bad games - they have plenty of fans after all, but they're just not my cup of tea.

Perhaps it's an unfair opinion, but Killzone, Ratchet and Clank, Resistance and Infamous have always struck me as a mediocre, also-ran franchises.

I bought the Ico/Shadow of the Colossus double pack, but just couldn't see what all the fuss is about. Shadow especially I found almost unplayable.

Heavy Rain is painfully pretentious garbage. You couldn't pay me to play it.

The God of War series is enjoyable enough but very linear and repetitive. I bought games 1-3 but quickly got burnt out on them, never finished 2 and only played 3 for an hour or so before selling them on.

I'm absolutely baffled by the popularity of Journey, which I found to be an utterly dull and vacuous experience - like an impressive graphics/atmospheric demo in search of an actual game - ie some kind of challenge or compelling gameplay mechanic. I was so underwhelmed by it that I never bothered with any other of thatgamecompany's output.

Gran Turismo is a dated series, and the latest one was just killed stone dead by its appalling UI and load times.

I find Metal Gear Solid insufferably pretentious and boring - haven't bothered with the series since the first one.

I couldn't stand Little Big Planet.

Don't get me wrong - I love my PS3, but 95% of it's usage is for watching movies and TV. I think the only games I've played for any length of time on it have been Ni No Kuni (gorgeous old-fashioned JRPG, good but hardly essential), Joe Danger (which is now out on Xbox) and Hotline Miami.

radiator

Having said all that, Guacamelee! looks really good, and is on my list of games to play.

JamesC

Guacamelee definitely appeals - I'll be getting that I think!

Journey, Heavy Rain, Ico/Shadow of the Colossus are all intriguing but I think I need to find out a bit more about them to see if they're really my kind of thing. I do like a story but the game elements have to feel compelling too (I played Alan Wake but quickly got bored and The Walking Dead just about held my attention but I was getting frustrated by the mechanics).

I'm not into FPS games so Killzone and Resistance are probably not games I'd bother with.

I think I'll be giving Infamous a go. I really like super-hero/adventure-action games. I loved the Amazing Spider-Man movie tie in so I think Infamous will appeal even if it's a bit clunky.

I think I may try Ni No Kuni if i can pick it up cheap. I like RPGs but often don't finish them.

Thanks for your suggestions everybody!

radiator

Journey is more of an interactive screensaver than a game. There's no real element of challenge, you can't die, there's no combat, no bosses, there's no traditional platforming or tricky obstacles to traverse. ISTR there are a few bonus collectibles to find, but that's your lot. Otherwise you just walk your little chap from A to B, occasionally bumping into other players. It's atmospheric and lovely to look at but just don't expect any actual gameplay to speak of. Obviously it appeals to some as a kind of passive experience to wind down with, but it left me completely cold.

I really struggled with Shadow of the Colossus, mainly due to the fiddly, annoying controls, which feel very dated. It is also a deeply, deeply frustrating game - it's basically built around the mechanic of climbing up giant moving beasts, and frequently falling to the ground - often through no fault of your own - to start the whole process again. As with Journey - it has lovely graphics and atmosphere, but the gameplay was unsatisfying to my tastes. I must confess I didn't get round to Ico yet (and might never do), but I do have positive memories of playing it on PS2 back in the day.

I got bored of the Walking Dead game in the first 10 minutes - that whole semi-interactive, narrative-based 'thing' just isn't what I play games for. I think Heavy Rain is exactly like TWD, but infinitely more pretentious and poorly scripted.

I found Ni No Kuni immensely charming and stunningly beautiful graphically - and the plot is pretty good if you don't mind whimsy, but some of the gameplay feels very antiquated and belonging to a previous generation. If you're a big fan of old school Japanese RPGs like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy you'll be right at home.

Hotline Miami is a must if, like me, you like difficult, addictive, violent, twitchy, arcadey games.

Bobblehead

Quote from: JamesC on 30 July, 2013, 12:20:47 PM
I think I may try Ni No Kuni if i can pick it up cheap. I like RPGs but often don't finish them.

If i remember correctly it was quite cheap on the PSN a couple of months ago,if it still is or not im not sure,but if you dont mind downloading the game rather than owning a physical copy then check it out.

Ni No Kuni is a great game btw and like radiator says its very charming and beautiful to look at (characters were designed by Studio Ghibli,so lots of cheerful,weird looking folks are in it :D ). Took me a while to finish it and theres end game content so you get your monies worth.