What Video Games have you been playing II: Have you finished that backlog?

[gay_Aleks]

Hey, people. I heard about X3 in the CK2 thread in OT. Which X3 is easier/better? Reunion or Terran Conflict?

 

[Quackers]

Football Manager 2015 came out today, perfect for those long, cold English weekends...

And now it's 1am....

I got it too. Very different interface to the 14. Some nice new changes, I'm enjoying it so far. I traditionally start off with Arsenal whenever a new game comes out. I''m going for Khedira to add some muscle to the midfield

Anyway I'm back on the Starcraft 2: HOTS ladder. The angst really spews forth whenever i lose a match

 

[cardgame]

Neither, X3 sucks.

 

[Ajidica]

Hey, people. I heard about X3 in the CK2 thread in OT. Which X3 is easier/better? Reunion or Terran Conflict?

I've only played X3 Terran Conflict, but from what I could tell from reviews and comments about it, X3 TC is basically X3 Reunion with less buggy quests and an overall better balanced economy.
Plus the autopilot is slightly less likely to send you full speed into an asteroid at full SETA compression (fast forward basically).

 

[SamSniped]

I got it too. Very different interface to the 14. Some nice new changes, I'm enjoying it so far. I traditionally start off with Arsenal whenever a new game comes out. I''m going for Khedira to add some muscle to the midfield

Anyway I'm back on the Starcraft 2: HOTS ladder. The angst really spews forth whenever i lose a match

What are the differences between '14 and '15, anyway?

Also, I highly recommend signing Ignazio Abate from AC Milan, that man is godlike.

 

[Mise]

I got it too. Very different interface to the 14. Some nice new changes, I'm enjoying it so far. I traditionally start off with Arsenal whenever a new game comes out. I''m going for Khedira to add some muscle to the midfield

I'm terrible with Arsenal. I usually go with Newport County in League 2. Much easier to figure it out when there's not as much going on...

I got it too. Very different interface to the 14. Some nice new changes, I'm enjoying it so far.

What are the differences between '14 and '15, anyway?

I didn't play 14 (I had CM2, FM13 and now FM15...) but from 13 the difference is pretty big and welcome. Much easier to navigate, all the options for tactics are front and centre now (instead of having to hunt around for them), more "options" and fewer "sliders", basically it's got a similar level of detail, but it's all much easier to access and navigate.

BTW DAE find contract negotiations tedious and inscrutable? There are just so many different addons in the game now compared to when I played Championship Manager 2 in the late 90s that I just can't work out if I'm getting a good deal or not...

 

[Civ'ed]

What are the differences between '14 and '15, anyway?

Also, I highly recommend signing Ignazio Abate from AC Milan, that man is godlike.

Pienaar is love, Pienaar is life

 

[GoodSarmatian]

After letting it sit in my steam library for a couple of months, I have just started Bioshock Infinite.
The only thing I can really say about it right now is that I like the style, but the engine is really dated and the playable prologue is a bit long (that might have something to do with my obsession to explore every alternative route and corner).

 

[Zack]

After letting it sit in my steam library for a couple of months, I have just started Bioshock Infinite.
The only thing I can really say about it right now is that I like the style, but the engine is really dated and the playable prologue is a bit long (that might have something to do with my obsession to explore every alternative route and corner).

The atmosphere/setting is excellent. The gameplay and story are... not. My favorite part of the game, by far, is the opening, which really is extraordinary.

 

[dusters]

getting back to Diablo 2 LoD for like n-th time. That game has so much replayability. And graphics isn't in 3d, which i like.

 

[Farm Boy]

The atmosphere/setting is excellent. The gameplay and story are... not. My favorite part of the game, by far, is the opening, which really is extraordinary.

I wanted to like the story for its quirks, but lots of the tropes were so belligerently bigoted and trying to be clever about it that it left a bad taste in my mouth the entire playthrough. I think I'll be avoiding the rest of the Bioshock library.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I was playing Far Cry 2 for a while, but my god, what a repetitive and pointless game. It starts off dropping you into a fictional African war and asking you to find and eliminate a foreign (American?) arms dealer who is supplying both sides and profiting from the chaos. Interesting premise, hot topic, good cause. I can dig it.

You then spend hours and hours participating in the bloodbath as some kind of sociopathic assassin-for-hire and doing jack[stuff] to find the guy. The save-game tells me I'm halfway through, and I couldn't care less about anything that's happening in the game.

...

I had nothing to do yesterday, so I replayed Portal and Portal 2. Highly recommended, 10/10, and I hope they're working on Portal 3.

 

[cardgame]

Valve can't count to 3

 

[Zack]

I wanted to like the story for its quirks, but lots of the tropes were so belligerently bigoted and trying to be clever about it that it left a bad taste in my mouth the entire playthrough. I think I'll be avoiding the rest of the Bioshock library.

It felt they were trying way too hard to blow my mind and forget to tell a coherent story.

 

[Commodore]

Valve can't count to 3

And I'm glad. There are too many trilogies in gaming. It seems like developers feel like every new franchise they create has to at least be a trilogy and that gets a bit tiresome. Just once, I'd like to sit down and play a game that has a true ending, instead of always leaving it open-ended so they can create a cash-cow sequel if the game sells well.

 

[Phrossack]

I was playing Far Cry 2 for a while, but my god, what a repetitive and pointless game. It starts off dropping you into a fictional African war and asking you to find and eliminate a foreign (American?) arms dealer who is supplying both sides and profiting from the chaos. Interesting premise, hot topic, good cause. I can dig it.

You then spend hours and hours participating in the bloodbath as some kind of sociopathic assassin-for-hire and doing jack[stuff] to find the guy. The save-game tells me I'm halfway through, and I couldn't care less about anything that's happening in the game.

It had potential, but wasted it. Don't get me wrong--I loved travelling the beautiful African wilderness, ambushing patrols, and hunting zebras with an infantry mortar, but the buddies weren't fleshed out. Apparently they didn't have time to implement them properly, and so the buddy missions are completely useless. You're forced to switch sides almost every other mission, and always have to fight both sides, even the men of your employers, for no good reason. On top of this you have a really crappy ending.

Spoiler :

Seriously, all of your buddies come back from the dead, only to betray you over a small amount of money you very easily could have given them, no matter how much you'd helped them before? And then you're forced to commit suicide?

 

[Ajidica]

It had potential, but wasted it. Don't get me wrong--I loved travelling the beautiful African wilderness, ambushing patrols, and hunting zebras with an infantry mortar, but the buddies weren't fleshed out. Apparently they didn't have time to implement them properly, and so the buddy missions are completely useless. You're forced to switch sides almost every other mission, and always have to fight both sides, even the men of your employers, for no good reason. On top of this you have a really crappy ending.

Spoiler :

Seriously, all of your buddies come back from the dead, only to betray you over a small amount of money you very easily could have given them, no matter how much you'd helped them before? And then you're forced to commit suicide?

I agree with all of the above.
If only one could merge the environment, sense of realism, and distinct lack of "mighty whitey" in Far Cry 2 with clearly superior mission structure, and RPG elements of Far Cry 3.

(I mean, the sense of realism in Far Cry 2 actually is what got me interested in post war African history.)

 

[bhsup]

And I'm glad. There are too many trilogies in gaming. It seems like developers feel like every new franchise they create has to at least be a trilogy and that gets a bit tiresome. Just once, I'd like to sit down and play a game that has a true ending, instead of always leaving it open-ended so they can create a cash-cow sequel if the game sells well.

I'm Commander Shepard and this is not my favorite post in the Colosseum.

 

[Phrossack]

I agree with all of the above.
If only one could merge the environment, sense of realism, and distinct lack of "mighty whitey" in Far Cry 2 with clearly superior mission structure, and RPG elements of Far Cry 3.

(I mean, the sense of realism in Far Cry 2 actually is what got me interested in post war African history.)

I haven't played 3, though it looks good. RPG elements are great, since they enable you to play the same game in so many different but equally useful and fun ways. I dunno about the lack of "mighty whitey," though. I mean, the majority of characters you can play as are white, and none are African, the only black man being Haitian. The real prime movers in the game are you and the Jackal, and the Jackal's white.

I think it's unanimous that FC2's environment is awesome. Everyone loves roaming the African wilderness. It definitely got me interested in post-WWII Africa, though I haven't read a book on it in a while.

Maybe it's just the overambitious dreams of an unusual guy, but I think FC2 could've used some strategy elements. Imagine building up a force of mercenaries or a local political/military party who can follow you around on romps or battles, setting up a base of operations wherever you want, and gradually conquering/reuniting the country. Give you something more to do than just pick up random missions or blow up a convoy driving in endless circles. I have a habit in sandbox games of looking for the perfect place to set up an independent faction and a base from which I could take over the map. But I can't do that alone; I need an army. FPS games, though, aren't too keen on letting you do that.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I do enjoy the open-worldliness of Far Cry 2, and the fact that it's not the same, tired, pseudo-Middle Ages Europe earns it a lot of points. I might try Far Cry 3 someday, if I find it on sale for only a few bucks. Far Cry 4 is coming soon, so maybe FC3 will be part of a big Steam holiday sale or something.

As for a Portal threequel, I would only want it if the developers are just as geeked to make it as I am to play it. If it was just a cash-grab, I'd be disappointed.

And I'm still playing Civ V, too. I can't bear to look at the "total hours played" in my Steam library. I'm Brazil right now.