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All Things Video Games Thread: II


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So I just got a nice little memo saying that I'll be getting a nice bonus this year :D ... part of which will definitely go into gaming. My X360 is currently on its last legs.... average 2 disc read errors per play session. I think the RR of Doom (which would be the second time) is not far behind. Instead of sending it back to MS and get a refurbished one back, is it worth upgrading to an Elite? From what I've seen the differences are hardly noticeable - but I'm just looking for a machine that does not have to be sent back every year :(

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Played the Bulletstorm demo tonight. Now that game is fun as hell (so far). Looks like it'll be just insane and over the top enough to hold me over till Duke.

That game looks like good silly fun. :D

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Time for some bad news. At least EA is keeping Rock Band. For now...

Activision Axes Guitar Hero and True Crime

I'd feel bad about Activision killing off Guitar Hero, but I'd thought Rock Band was the better game/franchise since its inception. Now it's to point where I've got nearly 500 songs available whenever I play Rock Band 3, and the last Guitar Hero I'd played was... 3? 4?

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Time for some bad news. At least EA is keeping Rock Band. For now...

Activision Axes Guitar Hero and True Crime

I'm not suprised with True Crime, after that train wreck otherwise known as True Crime: New York City. Damned game had a fatal bug in it that wouldn't let you past a certain part (basicly you can't kill the guy you fight on the truck cargo pod in the marina section no matter what you did). I had the Collector's Edition for the XBox.

I liked Streets of LA, though.

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  • 2 weeks later...

dragon age II demo is out. Time to face down darkspawn again.

I downloaded it for PC, but I'm too tired to give it a go tonight. My friends tell me it's gone all hack n' slash. Kind of like, if the first Dragon Age was Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age II is Dark Alliance.

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I downloaded it for PC, but I'm too tired to give it a go tonight. My friends tell me it's gone all hack n' slash. Kind of like, if the first Dragon Age was Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age II is Dark Alliance.

the battles are real time-ish. But you can still pause the game play to give orders, take command of specific party members, etc. It's just like the first dragon age game but now you have to press the attack button instead of clicking it once and then interrupting the auto attack with spells or abilities.

I suppose people who complain bitterly about ME:2 will find stuff to complain about in DAII but I'm all for the faster combat.

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the battles are real time-ish. But you can still pause the game play to give orders, take command of specific party members, etc. It's just like the first dragon age game but now you have to press the attack button instead of clicking it once and then interrupting the auto attack with spells or abilities.

I suppose people who complain bitterly about ME:2 will find stuff to complain about in DAII but I'm all for the faster combat.

Combat speed doesn't bother me. Hell, I played a Warrior in the first one, and only paused it when I felt I had to micro-manage the casters because everybody but my Warrior was going down. But I like clicking an enemy once and watching my Warrior do his things, occasionally clicking a power from his quick slots. It worked for me in Neverwinter Nights, it worked for me in KOTOR, and it worked for me in the first Dragon Age. Clicking for each attack doesn't sit as well with me. I won't say that it doesn't work at all, but it has me thinking I might go with a console version instead of the PC this time, though. I guess I'll have a better feeling after I actually play the demo, though. I could even download the Xbox demo and try it on both.

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Combat speed doesn't bother me. Hell, I played a Warrior in the first one, and only paused it when I felt I had to micro-manage the casters because everybody but my Warrior was going down. But I like clicking an enemy once and watching my Warrior do his things, occasionally clicking a power from his quick slots. It worked for me in Neverwinter Nights, it worked for me in KOTOR, and it worked for me in the first Dragon Age. Clicking for each attack doesn't sit as well with me. I won't say that it doesn't work at all, but it has me thinking I might go with a console version instead of the PC this time, though. I guess I'll have a better feeling after I actually play the demo, though. I could even download the Xbox demo and try it on both.

meh. I played the hell out of all of bioware's games and bladur's gate II as one of my all time favorite games of all time but I'm not beholden to a particular game mechanic just because that's how I played ten years ago.

I think that style works better for games like NWN and Baldur's gate where the combat is much more strategic and parties can be on the large side but DA is a very different game, it's much more intimate and visceral and, for me, the more interactive combat mechanics leads to a better sense of immediacy and involvement.

Having said that, I can see how it might not be the best system for a keyboard and mouse. ^_^

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Having said that, I can see how it might not be the best system for a keyboard and mouse. ^_^

Well, that's all I really mean. After all, I loved Dark Alliance.

Bioware changing the mechanic doesn't really influence my decision to buy Dragon Age II. Just which platform I play it on. Not keen on mashing left-click, but I'll happily mash X.

EDIT: It appears to be a moot point anyway. The PC version appears to play nearly identically to the first (right-click an enemy, and your character will auto-attack it until it's dead). The only real difference, besides the retooled interface, seems to be that you won't automatically attack when attacked or when whatever you were fighting gets killed. So, it's back to a PC purchase for me.

Edited by mikeszekely
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I liked the ps3 demo, but was still planning to get it for pc.

So is pc version stuck on auto attack?

Yep. Right-click once and leave alone until you right-click another target or the ground. You can't change it.

It's my first foray into Dragon Age, and honestly I'm not exactly liking the controls and combat, it feels pretty cumbersome. I don't like the idea of putting the camera controls, move, and attack all on the same right mouse button. They should've separated camera controls to left-click or another key (like alt).

Not to mention, I'm misclicking alot in this game. So instead of my character attacking my intended target, it either attacks something else or does nothing after moving into harm's way since I clicked ground instead of the enemy. I can see myself getting easily used to the controls and combat and liking the game, but first time it's off-putting...

(Would be nice to be able to reset the camera back to behind the character and have a camera lock-on a well...)

Edited by shiroikaze
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So is pc version stuck on auto attack?

You can't change it.

You guys say it like I'd want to change it.

If I'm moving people around with an analog stick, hacking away with one button and mapping powers to a couple more, then I don't really mind tapping a button once for a single attack. But on PC (especially as its what I'm used to from the first game, as well as other games in the genre) I prefer to click once and let my guy auto attack. Frees up the pointer to click powers on the quickbar (which, if the game winds up like the first one, extended well beyond the ones mapped to number keys).

Besides, it's not like your guy will autobattle until the fight's done. Just until his current target is dead, or you move.

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You guys say it like I'd want to change it.

If I'm moving people around with an analog stick, hacking away with one button and mapping powers to a couple more, then I don't really mind tapping a button once for a single attack. But on PC (especially as its what I'm used to from the first game, as well as other games in the genre) I prefer to click once and let my guy auto attack. Frees up the pointer to click powers on the quickbar (which, if the game winds up like the first one, extended well beyond the ones mapped to number keys).

Besides, it's not like your guy will autobattle until the fight's done. Just until his current target is dead, or you move.

I just tried the pc demo. Graphics look way better. The controls are easy enough to get used to. Tho I think playing with a pad

makes you feel like you're more in there like a hack n slash. I can understand people not wanting that because that's how the first game was.

Tough decision. I do like inputting commands for a little bit of a power up sometimes >,>

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I've just read some distressing news: the new Ace Combat game for ps3 is not coming out until DECEMBER 2011!!

Please somebody tell me we don't have to wait THAT LONG!!! :(

...that works out perfectly for me. :p

You guys say it like I'd want to change it.

Didn't mean it that way. I actually prefer it that way too. I just want them to separate the camera control from attack and move. :(

[edit]ALSO! Is there a reason why I cannot bind commands to CTRL and ALT for goodness sake? Why would you do that, Bioware?

Edited by shiroikaze
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I'm definitely enjoying the combat in DAII a lot more than in DA:O. Especially for the mage. I always enjoyed the mage class but now I feel a lot more involved in the fight, rather than just standing back and quarterbacking things.

I'm also really enjoying the skills upgrades to the fighter class, he's much more proficient at handling mobs now than before.

I can't wait till the game comes out. ^_^

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I noticed last night in the demo that for mages the range has been extended tremendously. I could barely see the Hurlocks on screen but I pounded away spells at a whim.

The graphics are much improved and much more fluid. The new and improved Flemeth, nice! She looks allot more like a younger Kate Mulgrew this time around. The reference to "the last grey wardens being beyond reach" was a great nod. Made me wonder where was my toon at the time of the Champion's escape.

Isabela..ah...can't wait for that interaction lol.

I plan on playing the other limited (bc of demo) classes soon...one big complaint, the extended time between pots...cost me a near wipe the first time I fought against an ogre.

Bioware looks to release yet another epic win. Nice warm up for TOR :)

Edited by Zor Primus
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yeah, the extended range is great and I like how the mages actually go after the enemy's ranged attackers first and stop spraying their own tanks with fire or ice attacks. ^_^

And I love the painterly touches to the graphic engine. It really fits with the storytelling style of the game.

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Digging up my old copy of Oblivion and installed it on the PC (putting in mods took a while). Wanted to play it again after seeing a promo trailer for TES5: Skyrim. It's about damn time Bethesda went back with their flagship franchise and do a proper sequel.

At the same time, I recently got Tactics Ogre for my 'ol PSP. Makes me think alot of old school Ogre Battle on the SNES.

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Digging up my old copy of Oblivion and installed it on the PC (putting in mods took a while). Wanted to play it again after seeing a promo trailer for TES5: Skyrim. It's about damn time Bethesda went back with their flagship franchise and do a proper sequel.

At the same time, I recently got Tactics Ogre for my 'ol PSP. Makes me think alot of old school Ogre Battle on the SNES.

I made the mistake of buying the Game of the Year version of Oblivion. I could never get it to install right with the stupid DRM they put on it. :angry:

As for PSP, I found out it's possible to run homebrew with firmware version 6.35, so I bought a PSP Go (that'd be my third PSP total). My PSP 3000 can have the current official Sony firmware and can play my UMDs, and it's got a bigger screen, which is good. But, despite being slimmer than my original launch PSP, it was still big enough that it was inconvenient to carry to work and such. To that end, I'm digging the Go. I mean, I'd hate it if I was actually relying on the PSN for games, but I've loaded it with UMD rips (almost my entire collection), which makes it perfect for carrying with me.

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Bulletstorm has been a lot of fun so far. I thought it got off to a slow start, but once you start picking up some more varied weapons it really becomes a treat. I still think that so far Echoes mode is my favorite, but I haven't messed with multiplayer yet.

Messed with the DA:2 demo a bit as well (on xbox) and while I liked it better than the first one in terms of combat (again I played the first on xbox) I felt it was lacking a bit. Granted it's just a demo, but it felt like you just mindlessly smashed A until a cooldown was up then you hit mobs like a freight train before mindless mashing A again. So I found it to be little...joyless, but you only have a small handfull of abilities to play with.

Does anyone know if multiple playthroughs with the same character are possible like in Mass Effect? The lack of this in the first Dragon Age really damped the experience for me (though I actually took issue with a lot of things in that game, especially on console).

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