Actually this is 'perspective' rather than nostalgia. Because while playing all of those '98 shooters together, and also replaying stuff like NOLF 1 & 2 and some other 2003 shooters I have regained some perspective on the entire genre from first-hand experience. That is illuminating in terms of what games have gameplay that holds up and which ones don't. And in that context I just wonder how we will view Crysis: Warhead in 5 or 10 years, and I am not sure it will be anything but 'solid'.
Fair enough, but "solid" is higher then what the majority of FPS rate in my book, especially in recent years. Part of the problem is that whether you realize it or not, the older we get and the more games we play, the harder it is to be impressed for most of us. I also still contend that nolstagia does indeed play a part, even if you recently replayed that older game. Perhaps the FPS genre is simply not what it used to be as far as gameplay goes. I found Crysis and C:Warhead to be at least as good as F.E.A.R and HL2 is every category except story.
Last game I finished was a "Codename: Panzers - Phase 2". It was rather good RTS, but only if you don't expect much. It's just like hundreds of other RTS games. There are three campaigns - first is german/italian, second british/american and third yugoslavian. Third campaign is really short. After completing the fourth mission I was wandering what the hell, it just can't be the end yet Anyway I don't think anyone could be interested in this game, except RTS fans.
Part of the problem is that whether you realize it or not, the older we get and the more games we play, the harder it is to be impressed for most of us.
Don't forget that I estimated my playthrough rate for 2007 was >235 games. I remember being past the point of believing that 'new & shiny = better' when they did the public test of Quake II.
I agree - I am not the biggest HL2 fan, but I love FEAR for Monolith's style of gameplay. Crysis is looser than that but still very satisfying. I suppose it is all gradations ...
Are you assuming that PSP/DS games are shorter? Bad assumption - there are many 40+ hour handheld games as well.
But I took that from calculations I did for this article:
Interesting statistic - I reviewed more than 170 games released in 2007, a number that increases to more than 185 when you include games I played but didn’t review for GamerDad, nearly 210 when you count games that I played on more than one platform, and over 235 when you include games from previous years that I either just discovered or replayed last year. That is a heck of a lot of games!
Perhaps I was, but if they're not - then that only make me even more skeptical. Are you a full time game reviewer? If so, then I apologize. I thought you had a regular full time job not associated with gaming.
Last year was an anomaly ... I had circumstances that permitted loads of game time, including being laid off, being flown all over for job interviews and faving loads of down time, having several weeks in a hotel before the family came out ... oh, and sleep deprivation.
If I manage 25% of that this year I'll be doing something ...
I'm envious :lol:. I'm lucky to get through a game every 1-1/2 - 2 weeks with my current schedule. For instance, I'm starting on King's Bounty tonight, and it will probably be the only game I play until Fallout 3 is released.
I'm envious :lol:. I'm lucky to get through a game every 1-1/2 - 2 weeks with my current schedule. For instance, I'm starting on King's Bounty tonight, and it will probably be the only game I play until Fallout 3 is released.
I know what you mean ... I haven't even installed it yet, and with the Mac Call of Duty 4 and the hours I wish I could get back from PSP Valhalla Knights 2 ... I'll get in Far Cry 2 and that is about it until Fallout 3.
I know what you mean ... I haven't even installed it yet, and with the Mac Call of Duty 4 and the hours I wish I could get back from PSP Valhalla Knights 2 ... I'll get in Far Cry 2 and that is about it until Fallout 3.
A lot of people are talking about Far Cry 2, strangely enough I find myself not interested in the least. I'm not even sure why, I really enjoyed the first Far Cry, and replayed it just last year. The setting and storyline of FC2 just don't appeal to me at all.
Dead Space is the next shooter that I'm truly looking forward to.
Fallout 3
This is the first game I finished since the end of summer. My studies have not given me time to play games and I actually shouldn't have played F3 either, but it was a great game. I have always enjoyed free-roaming "play it your way" kind of games and F3 delivers. F3 isn't Oblivion, it offers actual dialogue and making choices in how to finish quests, which is what I missed from Oblivion. The theme and setting from F1/2 is captured in F3. I never really bothered about F1/2 isometric and turn-based combat and enjoyed the first-person mode as well as V.A.T.S. F3 greatest strength is it's atmosphere. You really feel you are "there" in capital wasteland. There's a huge amount of areas to explore and I didn't have to explore all of it. I just loved many of the settings, such as the Vaults and the Museum of Technology, that felt unique and "cool".
It's a shame many compare F3 to the classics of the late 90'ies, because all in all, F3 is one of the best RPG's in years. All major RPG's recently (Mass Effect, NWN2, Gothic 3, Oblivion) have been a step down from it's predecessors in either simplifying the games so much that they play themselves, or being buggy and unsatisfying experiences. F3 actually comes out near the top by being quite advanced for our time, actually offering a character system, actually offering choices in how to finish quests, and actually being a free-roaming experience and still being a rather bug-free experience (compared with the rest).
There are some torns though.
The dialogue isn't as deep and philosophic as titles like the original Fallouts, Planescape Torment and Mask of the Betrayer, but average and "ok". It could have been better. When Bethesda waste so much money on a game, it's a wonder why they do not bother to hire a real writer to build the quests and the story. The main story is decent but it doesn't contain the twists and the depth that presented by companies such as Bioware. I never really felt that the story was exciting. There are companions in the game, but since they have nothing to say about the story, they were impersonal and boring. (I actually forgot about Dogmeat... I never bothered to "recruit" him).
The greater issue is game balance. Unlike Oblivion, F3 doesn't use scaled opponents, but it do not really have any tough opponents either. You also lose the enjoyment of improving your character rather quickly. I found the best weapon for my character after playing less than 10% of the game and continued to use it until the very end, 1-shotting almost everything I encountered. I reached the level cap after about 25% of the game. Most quests were fun to do in it's own, but the rewards were often just caps and I found that even if I bought every schematic and expensive item I saw, I piled up on money very quickly, even if I never used any trick to improve loot or increase my barter. Actually my repair skill seems to have improved the money I got quite a bit. Bethesda should learn from the Final Fantasy series that usually have a great blend between keeping the main storyline challenging if you push it, and if you pump your character with optional content (which makes the main storyline easier) there are also really challenging areas to try out. In those games, finishing the main storyline isn't really the great achivement but rather beating really tough opponents and getting the really cool weapons.
Statistics
Quests completed: 27
(There's actually one I "completed" but decided to not finish, I also finished most of the unmarked quests such as getting the rare items, including the Experimental MIRV)
Favorite Weapon: A3-21's Plasma Rifle (2438 in ammo)
Armor: T-51b Power Armor
Caps: 19154
Stimpacks: 352
Companion: Star Paladin Cross
Finished Both King's Bounty and Call of Duty:World at War in the last week.
King's bounty was outstanding imo. I normally don't even like most turn-based strategy games, but KB captivated me from beginning to end. The graphics, BGM, and gameplay were all exceptional. The game is also moderately long, and offers great replay value with 3 different roles to choose from. I'd highly recommend the game to anyone who likes strategy or strategy\RPG hybrids. I'm greatly anticipating the next installment.
I had mixed feelings about CoD:WaW. While the game is a blast to play, it's quite short, just like CoD 4 was. Half the game takes place in the Pacific on a variety of Islands, fighting against the Empire of Japan. The other half has you playing the role of a Russian soldier in the final days of WWII, when the Red Army was making it's final push into Berlin. I would have preferred that more game time was spent on the Pacific Front, as playing a Russian soldier was something I had already done in CoD 1&2. I had fun while it lasted, but I regret paying full price for it.
I just reinstalled CoD 2 because I was curious to see if that game was as fun as I remembered it 3 years ago. Surprisingly the AI is actually better in that game. For instance, I had forgotten how enemy soldiers will actually grab your live grenades and throw them back at you. I never saw that once in WaW.
Definitely going to do a full replay of CoD 1+expansion and CoD 2 whenever I get caught up on my gaming list.
Dead Space
I have always been a fan of horror games and I have played all the classic Survival Horror classics with great joy. Well, up to the last ones. Silent Hill 5 and Alone in the Dark 5 flopped and Resident Evil simply haven't been a horrorgame since RE4 was released as a horror-free actiongame. Even Condemned 2 (which was one of the reasons I bought a PS3) was a step down from it's prequel. No wonder I have been starved for a good horror... and then comes Dead Space. Dead Space feels like a blend between the DOOM3 setting and the gameplay of RE4. There's the shoulder view from RE4, with stores, upgradeable weapons and armor from RE4, and the dark corridors in outer space, alien artifacts, an infested crew and scientists from DOOM3.
I am rather resistant to horror in general but the game did manage to scare me a few times in the beginning, eventually this faded though and I was less worried running around, blasting everything standing in my path. The story was a well made effort although no oscars. There was a few plottwists that took me by surprise but they still felt cliché.
The PC controls werent as fluid as they should have been, but at least they added mousecontrol (unlike the PC version of RE4). It just had a weird lag to it. It seems mousespeed and FPS were connected in some way. At one point you end up in a small shooting gallery (minigame), and I felt myself struggeling to beat level 4. When I finally did, I reduced my resolution from 2048x1536 down to 1024x768 just to see if that would change things... I beated level 5 (hardest) on my first try!
The PC controls werent as fluid as they should have been, but at least they added mousecontrol (unlike the PC version of RE4). It just had a weird lag to it. It seems mousespeed and FPS were connected in some way. At one point you end up in a small shooting gallery (minigame), and I felt myself struggeling to beat level 4. When I finally did, I reduced my resolution from 2048x1536 down to 1024x768 just to see if that would change things... I beated level 5 (hardest) on my first try!.
The PC controls were pretty bad for Dead Space, no doubt about it. Even with the mouse slider at maximum, the game was unplayable for me at first. Here is a great tweak that I discovered over at the official Dead Space forums.
You can actually adjust the mouse sensitivity by going to....
C:\Documents and Settings\(username)\Local Settings\Application Data\Electronic Arts\Dead Space
You must have the "Show hidden files and folders" option enabled in the view tab of your folder options.
The "settings.txt" file has a line that reads "Control.MouseSensitivity ="
The default is 1.000000, I changed it to 2.000000 and now the mouse has no lag whatsoever, regardless of resolution. It does make the mouse quite fast in the game menus, but made the overall experience much more enjoyable for me.
Anyway I don't think anyone could be interested in this game, except RTS fans.
