The Whatever The Heck You're Playing At The Moment Thread

[dhex]

torchlight keeps sucking me in. but this review nails its ups and downs:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/torchlight-review

[isfet]

so since i can't get Torchlight to run on my computer, i decided to buy a game i had never played which is probably superior to Torchlight:  Diablo II!

i'd played the original game like crazy, but without really understanding how things like "roguelikes" or "dungeon crawls" really work.  as a result, i'm having a pretty easy time thus far with DII.  is the sequel easier or have i just gotten a lot better at these games?  i'm assuming...a bit of both?

currently using a polearm-wielding Amazon.  maxing out my dexterity like it ain't no thanh.  she can use a bow, too, but i'm wondering if it's really necessary to invest the time into it.  carrying that extra weapon in the inventory really breaks up my loot flow.

headed to the "underground passageway" right now, in search of Diablo I reference.

[scratchmonkey]

II is definitely easier, or at least the difficulty spikes don't come until much much later in the game.

There are some nice references to the original game in the first Act, they taper off entirely after that though.

[FortNinety]

Anyone here playing Dragon Age. At Bioware fans here at least? Aren't you one Mike? Though I know your hands are kinda full at the moment... but this is worth a gander, though there's plenty of spoilers, so be warned...

http://gza.gameriot.com/content/images/orig_320200_1_1257581825.png

[dhex]

short verdict: best bioware game in a long time. combat is actually difficult and vaguely tactical. story is "gritty" and surprisingly bloodly; sort of reminds me of the good old days in that regard. good art design in the environments and UI/journal system, decent facial animations. mostly good voice acting.

absolutely atrocious outfits for women, nipple points breaking the fourth wall, etc etc.

[dmauro]

New SMB Wii is pretty cool. It's almost exactly like the one on the DS so far, but the levels are a little better.

I've also been playing MW2 campaign on the 360 and it's excellent as expected. Nothing as good as the gunship level in the first one, but it might have more really good set pieces. The novelty level in this one is even better than the last too (it gives you the option to skip it because it might be too offensive for some players ).

[drozdal]

I've been playing Forza 3 almost exclusively for the past week (with short bursts of Torchlight, which is really fun in small doses). In short - game is great. Beautiful visuals (but I  think that Dirt2 looks a bit better), smooth gameplay, no slowdowns at all. Interesting career model where not only your driver levels up, but also car you drive in. Speaking of your driver lever - it seems that developers put it in game only to get you achievement points. I did not notice any extra benefits of having a really high level driver - extra cars unlock as you finish races and parts/upgrades are getting cheaper only when your car gains a level (aside from your gamer score of course, if anyone cares, and I bet a lot of people do).

Compared to Dirt 2 (I know it's silly, but Dirt2 was the only other recently released racing game I've played, I'm planing on getting Need For Speed Shift sometime in the future) Forza has this "sterile", high polish and clean feel. Everything is and looks really shiny, new and high-end. Car models are flawless, buildings on the side of the tracks are highly detailed, audience looks way better than people in Dirt2 did (but as with Dirt  only white people are here to watch cars race).
 
Haven't got the chance to dive into tuning / painting and designing vinyls, but I bought few cars on in-game auctions and that was fun (if you have decent amount of money and some spare time). Cars that I purchased were about 30% or less of retail (in-game store) price which is great news when you need upgrade fast (because special event is just around the corner) and you do not swim in money at the moment  (which was the case with me for the most of my 3 seasons of play so far).

The only mildly frustrating thing I've noticed is a bug that deals with calculating your opponents car shadows (especially on the track with a lot of turns and bright sunlight) - they tend to randomly jump from one side of their car to the other while shadows on your car are displayed properly all the time. Lack of weather effects suck too, but I got over it in Dirt2, so it should not be a problem here in the long run.

Forza 3 has more racing simulation feel to it than arcade driving model known from Dirt, but people looking for arcade action can easily replicate Dirt feel with a bit of tweaking to the difficulty settings.

[FortNinety]

Finally beat the 300,000 barrier in Pac Man CE, by 1,000 to be exact.. Have developed a new strategy from watching various superplays on YouTube, though I still have a ways to go before I top the newest top score on my friends list, which is 311,000. Is that yours yellowoystercult?

Also played some Espgaluda last night. As much I as I want to love Dai Ou Jou, I just suck at it, whereas Espgaluda is not as punishing, plus I really enjoy it's scoring system.

[dmauro]

I've been playing some Devil's Crash on the Arcades with Sega emulation. I had to change the input settings in the emulator, but I got it working so that the paddles are controlled with two buttons (rather than left on the dpad, and a button) and it's pretty awesome. My top score so far is about 16 million.

And the NSMB:Wii multiplayer is a lot of fun.

[isfet]

nice score!  yea, everyone needs to play more Devil's Cru/a/sh.  also, Dave, you may not be aware, but if you press and hold A, B and C at the title screen and then hit Start, you're taken to an option menu where you can reassign the buttons.  dunno if that's necessary since you reworked the emulator, but...just in case.

been playing NSMBWii multiplayer a lot, too.  got up to World 6 so far, but i'd definitely like to give the game a spin with you guys.  the game works for people of different skill levels, but i'm looking forward to PWNING the shit out of the game with other people.

[FortNinety]

So I just got the Xbox 360 demo of Bayonetta, and its a lot better than the PS3 one. For whatever reason, I just found the controls to be a lot more enjoyable, plus there's less load times of course. Though it still kinda sucks for the same reasons as before. Sorry, but channeling Cowboy Bebop is so 1999.

[dmauro]

Just beat MW2. Clocked in at 5 hours, which felt just about perfect. The last level is a chase scene kind of like in the first game, but with boats, and unfortunately it's not as good. But overall I think this game was probably better. There were just a lot of great moments that made me think these guys could be writing decent Hollywood action movies too. The stuff that happens while the credits roll is really awesome. It's like an IW museum with sets from the game in a sort of SMB3 sort of presentation (although it isn't prevalent throughout the game as in SMB3, just at the credits), very cool stuff.

[drozdal]

I watched my GF play L4D2 for about two hours yesterdayt. Levels seem a bit shorter, but are way harder to navigate through. A lot more zombies, she was getting close to 200 kills on each "chapter" and melee weapons are essential for survival - as they can clear a lot of infected that are swarming you, new guns are great too - especially grenade launcher. Campaigns lasts about the same as in the first game (close to an hour) but now there are five of them (I've seen one and a three quarters of the second one). There are new "tasks" characters need to do to advance in a level sometimes (as opposed to press something and kill all the zombies that show up - known from L4D), like find deliver something to the guy who can give you an access to the rest of the level, or switch off alarm that's three stories above you (while being attacked by never ending horde).

New infected are a lot of fun - especially the witch who just wanters around.

I know that people were complaining about this game being L4D 1.5, but it doesn't feel like it, there is more than enough new content in to justify the sequel.

[dmauro]

Up until 6am last night. o_0 I knew there would be a lot of trouble with people getting in the way with melee weapons, but goddamn. The magnum is as good as it gets, and I would put money on players picking that one 75% of the time once everyone figures out how to play. Melee weapons aren't THAT good.

The game, however, is awesome.

[ryan]

Dragon Age Origins has been banned. Until I have enough free time, I can't even load it, otherwise I burn through a few hours of questing. Borderlands was great, and Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising was satisfying in a sad way - great feel and mechanics for the actual shooting, but a little unfocused and buggy otherwise.