What games are you playing now?

Apparently I have a bit of BJ Blazkowicz on the brain …
- Return to Castle Wolfenstein on netbook
- Wolfenstein RPG on iPhone
- Wolfenstein (just released) just installed on PC …

Originally Posted by JDR13
I'm not sure how well you remember the original Tomb Raider, but TRA is a far cry from being a straight port of it, at least the beginning anyways. I lost interest while still in the first level, but I barely recognized what I saw, and I remember the original quite well.

Hmmm, I immediately felt at home when playing Anniversary and almost every time I turned a corner it was like: "Ooohh, I remember this area". However, I must admit that I was primarily focusing on the scenery/areas and not so much and the actual gameplay elements. When Anniversary came out I had played through Legend 3 or 4 times within the last 6-9 months but hadn't touched the original Tomb Raider since its' release in the early 90'ies, so I may have been more familiar/comfortable with the Legend game mechanics than with the original TR's game mechanics.

I never did finish Anniversary though. The final trip up inside the pyramid with one timed sequence after the other was driving me bonkers to the extend that I finally gave up on it.

Yeah, that pyramid section was kinda ridiculous.

Ive been a lara devotee since the beginning, and have spent some time acquiring all of them for the PS again, i plan on breakin out the old playstation and giving them a run thru one of these months. I think Anniversary was great, but comparison side by side with the original-theyre pretty different, and that was kinda a disappointment in a way. Then again, i suppose that id be complaining if it was a direct copy with bettr graphics. Gamers can be a peculiar species

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
Yeah, that pyramid section was kinda ridiculous.

Ive been a lara devotee since the beginning, and have spent some time acquiring all of them for the PS again, i plan on breakin out the old playstation and giving them a run thru one of these months. I think Anniversary was great, but comparison side by side with the original-theyre pretty different, and that was kinda a disappointment in a way. Then again, i suppose that id be complaining if it was a direct copy with bettr graphics. Gamers can be a peculiar species

2 against 1 now. Perhaps it is indeed MY ailing brain that's on the fritz after all.

Originally Posted by fatBastard()
2 against 1 now. Perhaps it is indeed MY ailing brain that's on the fritz after all.

I felt that Anniversary possibly was near to the original with respect to room layout and puzzle layout. But the puzzles were much harder in a non-fun way (much exacter and faster finger twitching required than in the original), while all story/exploration aspects (which were admittedly already thin in the original) were reduced to nearly nothing.

So for me it was reduced to non-fun finger-twisting activity and I believe I also gave up in the pyramide.

I ALMOST gave up on the pyramid, quite frankly. For the first time ever in a TR game, I was so tired of it that I felt like giving up. My paws literally hurt. I did walk away from it for a day, then came back and cracked my knuckles, downed a couple shots of espresso, and it took me another practically whole session of hacking away at that part and countless Lara deaths but i finally pulled it off.

Here's the part we're whining about in case you havent been there, done that. It's timed, and to a tee, so you barely make it before the poles go back in the wall and you plunge to a fiery death. Plus, half the time she doesnt make the full jump. It's a real pain.

Fatbastard, I wouldnt feel that bad if I were you. Thematically, it was the same practically setpiece to setpiece, but the puzzles therein and gameplay were different. By all rights, it should have been titled "Tomb Raider: Redux"

btw, if any other Lara devotees are interested, this is the best TR site in my opinion w/ tons of cool artwork and wallpapers, bordering on obsession Tomb Raider Chronicles

By the way, for me still TR 2 and 3 are the best in the series:
They had the gameplay from TR 1 but with a story.
Everything after that was either copy or made gameplay worse.

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
I ALMOST gave up on the pyramid, quite frankly. For the first time ever in a TR game, I was so tired of it that I felt like giving up. My paws literally hurt. I did walk away from it for a day, then came back and cracked my knuckles, downed a couple shots of espresso, and it took me another practically whole session of hacking away at that part and countless Lara deaths but i finally pulled it off.

Here's the part we're whining about in case you havent been there, done that. It's timed, and to a tee, so you barely make it before the poles go back in the wall and you plunge to a fiery death. Plus, half the time she doesnt make the full jump. It's a real pain.

I finished the pyramid and I remember that part to be one of the more frustrating parts of the game. It's right before the ending if I recall right, so I kept at it until I did it. Finally hearing the chime for the checkpoint was beautiful to my ears.

Originally Posted by xSamhainx
Here's the part we're whining about in case you havent been there, done that. It's timed, and to a tee, so you barely make it before the poles go back in the wall and you plunge to a fiery death. Plus, half the time she doesnt make the full jump. It's a real pain.

Yep, that's the one. Around 80% of the times I tried I failed to make the first wall running jump AWAY from the wall and the few times when I actually succeeded making the first jump, I hadn't been fast enough so the second ring would retract before I had come far enough to make the final jump.

For me the distance between getting frustrated and going completely ape-shit bananas is very short so when I, for the third day in a row, attempted to make that sequence and failing again for the 20th something time, I lost it and deleted the thing, including save games.

Originally Posted by bkrueger
the puzzles were much harder in a non-fun way (much exacter and faster finger twitching required than in the original),

Yep, that was my main issue, although you worded it a lot better than I did.

TRA had a lot of attractive assets: the visuals, animations, Lara's um….hair. But they just had you jumping (and reloading) a bit too much.

I've forgotten most of my TR stuff … anyone else trying Wolfenstein?

Originally Posted by txa1265
… anyone else trying Wolfenstein?

I've got it but I haven't even installed it yet. I'm gonna finish my replay of RtCW first.

Originally Posted by txa1265
I've forgotten most of my TR stuff … anyone else trying Wolfenstein?

Yeah, I'm playing it and it's pretty damn good.

Nothing original about it - but it uses a lot of excellent features from recent shooters and it blends well.

I'm not sure if it's the Unreal engine - but to me it's quite attractive and runs really smooth. The enemies die in very satisfying ways and there is a ton of flavor animations.

The only thing I lament is that it's too "light" with its exploration elements and the "INTEL" stuff you find is mostly a missed opportunity. I'd love more depth and detail - but there's enough to just keep it going.

I love that weapon upgrades mean something and they're visible like Bioshock. In fact, there are quite a few Bioshock features and it's evident they've borrowed a lot from that game. Also, they outdid Bioshock by having more upgrades than you can afford, so there's a pretty strong replay incentive - especially coupled with the Gold/Intel/Tomes you can find - and Tomes are HARD to find.

Overall one of the best shooters I've played in a while and I'd probably give it something like 8/10.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
I'm not sure if it's the Unreal engine - but to me it's quite attractive and runs really smooth.

Given that it is by Raven/Id even mentioning the Unreal Engine is a sacrilege .

It seems to be based on the Doom 3 engine (it is even mentioned on that page).

Edit: Since the Wikipedia page for Wolfenstein mentions thatit was released in Australia, we can obviusly conclude that the Nazis don't use drugs or prostitutes in that game…
(The world of censorship is a strange world.)

Originally Posted by bkrueger
Given that it is by Raven/Id even mentioning the Unreal Engine is a sacrilege .

It seems to be based on the Doom 3 engine (it is even mentioned on that page).

Edit: Since the Wikipedia page for Wolfenstein mentions thatit was released in Australia, we can obviusly conclude that the Nazis don't use drugs or prostitutes in that game…
(The world of censorship is a strange world.)

I thought it was weird that Raven would do a game with the Unreal Engine - but it looks A LOT like it.

That said, I haven't played a Doom 3 tech game since Quake 4 - and I don't remember how it looked.

I guess they're just about the same then

That said, it performs better than UE3.X. But the models seem less detailed than those possible in UE. That'd be about the only notable difference, though, and it's interesting how close these two licensed engines are.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
That said, it performs better than UE3.X.

That's good to hear. UT3 runs very fast on my system, so I guess I don't need to wonder about Wolfenstein.

I'm enjoying RtCW so much right now that I'm in no hurry to start the new Wolfenstein. I almost forgot how much fun this game was. It ranks up there with Medal of Honor and Jedi Outcast as my favorite Quake 3 Engine games.

Just finished it

It's incredibly derivative towards the end, and quite predictable - but it's executed with a lot of care, and the overall experience remains strong.

I think Wolfenstein is fun but overall fairly 'meh' … if it wasn't clearly a Wolfenstein game I'd dismiss it out of hand.

Originally Posted by txa1265
I think Wolfenstein is fun but overall fairly 'meh' … if it wasn't clearly a Wolfenstein game I'd dismiss it out of hand.

The main character have a voice and a personality in the new one right? One of my primary issues with the earlier games was his lack of character (he never spoke).

Well…he has a voice. His personality consists of glaring at and then shooting at Nazis.