To start this ever-so-excellent blog o' mine - I'm not longer an achievement whore. I've realized that there are depths that I cannot go to in order to be a "whore". I'll never be able to fill my profile up with games like Night at the Museum, Cars, Barbie, etc. just to get gamerscore. Those points would be empty and meaningless to me. Therefore, I've got a new term: achievement snatcher. What is that, you ask? Well, it means that I thoroughly enjoy getting achievement points, but I'm glad to know that I am not a whore! lol So, with this out of the way, onto the blog!!!
This picture was just too damn awesome to pass up!I rented F.E.A.R. 2 for my second time this weekend, as I hadn't played it in a while...and I never got to delve into the multiplayer. TALK ABOUT TOUGH!!! Vinchenzo wasn't lying to me when he said that the multiplayer achievements alone are rough, but the actual gameplay has a very different...feel...to it than most multiplayer does. The single player is still pretty awesome, even though I remember the Hard difficulty...actually being hard? = / Oh well. So yeah, the multiplayer - there's something about it that is "off" to me. Here's the thing: games like Call of Duty, Far Cry 2, or Red Faction Guerrilla...when I shoot someone...I can "feel" those shots. I can feel the hit detection. However, games like F.E.A.R. 2 or Battlefield 2...I can't "feel" that shot. Sometimes, I think it has to do with the hit confirmation X that pops up on an enemy when you hit them. I don't know. Either way, though, the multiplayer on F.E.A.R. 2 is pretty cool, if not very standard in terms of match types. Unfortunately, there's almost no community for the game, so getting a match was a bit harsh at times. I still don't know how I feel about the ending of this game. It kind of gives me the "eeewwwww" feeling. lol
While renting F.E.A.R. 2, I happened upon a SWEET deal: Red Faction Guerrilla for $30!!! FUCK YES!!! I'm usually not too keen on buying games used, but $30!!! NO ONE can pass that up for a game that's only been out for, like, a month...if even that! Definitely gonna get down on some of the multiplayer...
THIRTY FUCKING DOLLARS!!!
OH SHIT!!! THAT STICK IS ON FIRE!!!...after some more achievement snatching, and there is a lot to be had. I've started up on that horrible, glitchy, junky game known as Oblivion. When I had first played it, I remember thinking "this game kinda sucks". Now, playing it yet again and looking back, I wish I could bitchslap my past self for say it KINDA sucked. It absolutely sucks! The leveling system is still horrendous and exploitable, the animations are stiffer than a porn star's dick, the texture pop-in and shoddy draw distance make me wanna barf...and I just keep thinking to myself - "HOW THE HELL did anyone think this game was technically marvelous"? I remember when it was coming out, and people kept talking about how great it looked and how great it felt and blah blah blah. Sure, there is a deep amount of lore SOMEWHERE in all that hullabaloo, but the fact that I've spent more time in load screens and traveling than actual gameplay just pisses me off. While Fallout 3 still suffers from the animation and some of the texture pop-in issues, the leveling system FORCES me to actually play the game and the story feels MUCH deeper in the side quests to me.
Which brings me to a sad point: someone deleted my two level 20s on Fallout 3. If I find out who did, I'm going to rip their tongue out and hang them with it. Therefore, I'll have to stick with Nadface on Oblivion until I feel the urge to pick Fallout 3 back up and finish out my 1k before the Game of the Year Edition comes out.
We got a bunch of new games at work today, but only two that I'm honestly interested in playing: Fight Night Round 4 and Skate 2. I've heard good and bad things about Round 4, but from everything I've seen, it looks like Fight Night to me...but with a shitty corner game. So I'm down for that. Skate 2 is a love/hate thing. I hated Skate, but I loved how grounded it kept things compared to Tony Hawk. Maybe it's just because I could never get past one of the combos I needed to finish an objective. Nonetheless, I wanna check out Skate 2, as I've heard there are big improvements over the first game.
Other than that...I'm waiting for Prince of Persia to be in at Blockbuster. I got a sudden urge to play it, and I don't know why. I mean, I'm sure it's good and all, but I hadn't really been all "ZOMFG I HAVE TO PLAYS IT NOWZ" like I was with the last trilogy. Either way, when those come in, I'll be rockin' on them.
To start this ever-so-excellent blog o' mine - I'm not longer an achievement whore. I've realized that there are depths that I cannot go to in order to be a "whore". I'll never be able to fill my profile up with games like Night at the Museum, Cars, Barbie, etc. just to get gamerscore. Those points would be empty and meaningless to me. Therefore, I've got a new term: achievement snatcher. What is that, you ask? Well, it means that I thoroughly enjoy getting achievement points, but I'm glad to know that I am not a whore! lol So, with this out of the way, onto the blog!!!
This picture was just too damn awesome to pass up!I rented F.E.A.R. 2 for my second time this weekend, as I hadn't played it in a while...and I never got to delve into the multiplayer. TALK ABOUT TOUGH!!! Vinchenzo wasn't lying to me when he said that the multiplayer achievements alone are rough, but the actual gameplay has a very different...feel...to it than most multiplayer does. The single player is still pretty awesome, even though I remember the Hard difficulty...actually being hard? = / Oh well. So yeah, the multiplayer - there's something about it that is "off" to me. Here's the thing: games like Call of Duty, Far Cry 2, or Red Faction Guerrilla...when I shoot someone...I can "feel" those shots. I can feel the hit detection. However, games like F.E.A.R. 2 or Battlefield 2...I can't "feel" that shot. Sometimes, I think it has to do with the hit confirmation X that pops up on an enemy when you hit them. I don't know. Either way, though, the multiplayer on F.E.A.R. 2 is pretty cool, if not very standard in terms of match types. Unfortunately, there's almost no community for the game, so getting a match was a bit harsh at times. I still don't know how I feel about the ending of this game. It kind of gives me the "eeewwwww" feeling. lol
While renting F.E.A.R. 2, I happened upon a SWEET deal: Red Faction Guerrilla for $30!!! FUCK YES!!! I'm usually not too keen on buying games used, but $30!!! NO ONE can pass that up for a game that's only been out for, like, a month...if even that! Definitely gonna get down on some of the multiplayer...
THIRTY FUCKING DOLLARS!!!
OH SHIT!!! THAT STICK IS ON FIRE!!!...after some more achievement snatching, and there is a lot to be had. I've started up on that horrible, glitchy, junky game known as Oblivion. When I had first played it, I remember thinking "this game kinda sucks". Now, playing it yet again and looking back, I wish I could bitchslap my past self for say it KINDA sucked. It absolutely sucks! The leveling system is still horrendous and exploitable, the animations are stiffer than a porn star's dick, the texture pop-in and shoddy draw distance make me wanna barf...and I just keep thinking to myself - "HOW THE HELL did anyone think this game was technically marvelous"? I remember when it was coming out, and people kept talking about how great it looked and how great it felt and blah blah blah. Sure, there is a deep amount of lore SOMEWHERE in all that hullabaloo, but the fact that I've spent more time in load screens and traveling than actual gameplay just pisses me off. While Fallout 3 still suffers from the animation and some of the texture pop-in issues, the leveling system FORCES me to actually play the game and the story feels MUCH deeper in the side quests to me.
Which brings me to a sad point: someone deleted my two level 20s on Fallout 3. If I find out who did, I'm going to rip their tongue out and hang them with it. Therefore, I'll have to stick with Nadface on Oblivion until I feel the urge to pick Fallout 3 back up and finish out my 1k before the Game of the Year Edition comes out.
We got a bunch of new games at work today, but only two that I'm honestly interested in playing: Fight Night Round 4 and Skate 2. I've heard good and bad things about Round 4, but from everything I've seen, it looks like Fight Night to me...but with a shitty corner game. So I'm down for that. Skate 2 is a love/hate thing. I hated Skate, but I loved how grounded it kept things compared to Tony Hawk. Maybe it's just because I could never get past one of the combos I needed to finish an objective. Nonetheless, I wanna check out Skate 2, as I've heard there are big improvements over the first game.
Other than that...I'm waiting for Prince of Persia to be in at Blockbuster. I got a sudden urge to play it, and I don't know why. I mean, I'm sure it's good and all, but I hadn't really been all "ZOMFG I HAVE TO PLAYS IT NOWZ" like I was with the last trilogy. Either way, when those come in, I'll be rockin' on them.
The biggest complaint with the most recent Prince of Persia game is that it's overly forgiving and easy, so watch out for that (or... don't...?). As you're playing through Oblivion, try to keep in mind that all of the excitement that occurred over it did in fact happen several years back when the 360 was still very young. Try not to let today's wonders cloud your judgment.
I rented F.E.A.R. 2 as well and hated it. That game is all kinds of hideous, especially the multiplayer. Anyway, good job on picking up Red Faction on the cheap; I've yet to play that gem.
I can't believe you didn't like Oblivion back in the day. When you look at it now it hasn't aged well at all, but back when it came out, I played that game so much I was addicted. The amount of quests in Oblivion was what really kept me going. But if you go back to Oblivion now, ya it's not that good anymore.
" The biggest complaint with the most recent Prince of Persia game is that it's overly forgiving and easy, so watch out for that (or... don't...?). As you're playing through Oblivion, try to keep in mind that all of the excitement that occurred over it did in fact happen several years back when the 360 was still very young. Try not to let today's wonders cloud your judgment.
I rented F.E.A.R. 2 as well and hated it. That game is all kinds of hideous, especially the multiplayer. Anyway, good job on picking up Red Faction on the cheap; I've yet to play that gem. "
I've heard that about PoP, but meh. Whatever.
Oblivion is a tough subject, because now people have the defense of "well, that was when the 360 first came out". Here's the thing: I felt this way about it then as well. It's not like the console is to blame, nor is it the game really. I mean...even the PC version was crap. People were just unwilling to see past the visuals at the time to notice that...well...it's not a very well-built game. The level of depth in making the fully realized world that they had is cool, don't get me wrong. I just really hate that people ignore so many blatant problems because of the "depth". Fallout 3 is still, personally, a better option.
With PoP I felt like the gameplay was a step in the right direction. When a lot of people talk about how the game was too easy I have to ask how they would make the game harder. I mean I'm personally done with the old Tomb Raider style of platforming where if I miss calculated a jump it was game over and I would have to re-load to my last save or rely on checkpoints that were always few and far between. That type of gameplay does not appeal to me and instead seems frivolous and arbitrarily hard. Now I did hate the whole collection of "Light Seeds," because I felt like that was a "gamey" and extremely repetitive barrier slowing the progression of the story of the game.
Now I'd like to ask you a question about Red Faction: Guerilla. How's the multiplayer, because when you announced a while back that you were hosting a tournament for the game I got intrigued. I mean is there a good sized community behind the game and does the actual multiplayer have some depth to it? I know that the single player is good from what I have heard, but I'm a little sketchy about the multiplayer.
I played Oblivion on the PC. I modded the crap out of it. Mostly visual stuff, no cheats. The more I modded the better it looked, less polygon mods such as grass and rocks and some other tweaks, and the better it ran on my PC. I played the vanilla campaign and struck out to make myself invisible. I did the main quest and all the side quests, but all I wanted was more stuff to make me invisible. Once I achieved this goal, I was god. I played the two expansions while invisible and kicked some ass... easy, sure, but I had fun until I was done.
I'm playing Morrowind on my PC now. I'm still trying different mods to make it look better. I finally brought my PC to its knees with some of the hi-rez textures I added. Oh well, back to the drawing board, the game within the game.
"Now I'd like to ask you a question about Red Faction: Guerilla. How's the multiplayer, because when you announced a while back that you were hosting a tournament for the game I got intrigued. I mean is there a good sized community behind the game and does the actual multiplayer have some depth to it? I know that the single player is good from what I have heard, but I'm a little sketchy about the multiplayer."
The multiplayer in Red Faction Guerrilla is EXCELLENT! It's weird that people keep asking if the multiplayer is good, because the last two Red Faction games were KNOWN for their multiplayer being fucking awesome! LOL I doubted the multiplayer as well...for some dumb fucking reason!!!
Seriously, there is a good community behind the game, always able to find a match, and the match types are varied enough that you don't get bored with them. It's also one of the first games that I've seen in a while where I instantly recognized them and was able to navigate them easily in quite some time. They've built a remarkable multiplayer game on top of an incredible physics and damage engine that features clean shooting mechanics and some interesting takes on the traditional shooter formula. When I hosted that Bombing Run for Guerrilla, only about four people showed up: Origina1Penguin, StarFoxA, Metroid545, and kmdrkul. Nonetheless, though...the first three players and myself went for a good five hours in the multiplayer before I basically had to call it off because I wanted to play some of the single player campaign.
Siege is an excellent example of how to take a basic match type like Gold Rush mode from Battlefield Bad Company and making it fun every single time. Damage Control is a great take on Domination from Call of Duty 4. That's the thing - you know all these match types. It's the destruction that gives it that umph to make it unique and special.
Also, between Red Faction and Prototype...I think thermobolic rockets are going to quickly become the new "it" item. Fuck verticality. Give me destruction!!!
" @jakob187: Well the reason why I ask is because this will probably be my first Red Faction game...I know, I'm a bad person.... "
Not a bad person. There were a lot of people that didn't play the first two games, solely because it was an FPS on a console...and they weren't necessarily known for those at the time.
I never really got into Oblivion myself, but Fallout 3 has yet to let me go. I got Red Faction on the cheap too ($40 on Amazon brand new), but it just doesn't seem like retailers have that much faith in it. Let's hope it has strong sales.
That is a great deal! And I guess you would call me an achievement snatcher because I usually do that but Kung Fu Panda is on my gamercard so I guess that is under the whore category but everything else should be normal.
" That is a great deal! And I guess you would call me an achievement snatcher because I usually do that but Kung Fu Panda is on my gamercard so I guess that is under the whore category but everything else should be normal. "
Here's the thing: I believe that if you honestly ENJOYED the game, you can't call it whoring. I mean, King Kong and Fight Night Round 3 are easy achievements, as it's just playing through the game. However...they aren't bad games, and they are games that I thoroughly enjoyed. So, what's so "whoring" about it? Did I play them just for the achievements and never touch them again? Well, King Kong...yeah sure. There was nothing else to do after that! Fight Night Round 3, however, was something that I still picked up and played.
Now I'm on Fight Night Round 4, BTW. Got 105G in less than 30 seconds on there. Knocking someone out in less than 30 seconds with Mike Tyson is FUCKING AWESOME!!!
If you hated skate I don't recommend skate 2. The challenges are harder, there are framerate issues, and the "improvements" are janky at best. Getting off your board and running around feels like shit, as does moving objects. The upside is the challenges are more fun, the city is cooler looking, and you can actually run up stairs... even if running does control like shit.
As you know I finally finished Oblivion the other day, to pass the time if nothing else before Resi 5 got here. Which brings me to my next point...
I finally picked up Resi 5 yesterday, been meaning to play it for ages but at the same time kinda avoiding it. All I can say is, if you're going to make me fight fucking Neo from The Matrix, don't fucking give me quick time events to dodge, just give me a fucking roll ability, and not moving while shooting is fine for the intended purpose (to heigthen the tension) for the normal enemies, but against some of those insanely fast moving bosses, and lickers, fuck no it simply causes frustration. Overall I still enjoyed the game though even if I absolutely hate where they took the storyline, I was not happy to see Wesker all "Neo"'ed up though, that pissed me off a little but then I guess Japanese audiences lapped it up. Pretty sort too, spent some time messing around and once you minus all the times I fucking died 15-20 minutes into a boss fight (you DO NOT give me a boss fight that fucking long, and give the boss a one shot kill >.< thats the other bad design decision, fucking one shot kills everywhere you turn) it turned out about 6 and a half hours. Not too impressive but about what I was expecting, now all I have to do is get down with all the jiggy unlockables.
Mercs is a lot harder than I remember too, no time bonuses, hardly any enemies around and an insult from the chopper pilot because I didnt kill enough people? Gotta wonder wether thats even more harsh than some of the games bosses.
Also, weirdly on the morning I was waiting for Resi 5 in the post I started playing Command and Conquer 3 to pass the time, having played the training mission, hated it and ragequit when I bought it. Now i'm kinda into it, I might pick it up some more after Resi 5 has lost it's vigor.
You hated Oblivion? Ok, now your opinion is invalid.
I'm joking, of course, but whatever. I played through Oblivion again a couple of months ago, and had an absolute blast. I still think it's the best game ever made. Today, right now, it's better than Mass Effect, better than Fable, and yes, better than Fallout. And it was technically marvelous because of the size of the world, the detail of the visuals, and the gorgeous scenery. You pay a price with load times, texture pop-in and a somewhat erratic framerate, but it's a price worth paying.
"I've realized that there are depths that I cannot go to in order to be a "whore". I'll never be able to fill my profile up with games like Night at the Museum, Cars, Barbie, etc. just to get gamerscore. Those points would be empty and meaningless to me. Therefore, I've got a new term: achievement snatcher. "
Dude thats like a Pornstar being called a Pornstar not a whore... You are still getting Screwed for money. Its just more legit and you get to only have sex with good looking people.
@The_A_Drain: *ugh* Fucking Resident Evil 5... I can't play that game for more than 30 minutes at a time before I start breaking out in the vurps (ya know, when you vomit while burping). Nonetheless...achievement points abound!!! Therefore, it'll get finished once my buddy Dice comes back into town so we can finish it on co-op. I've already played through the game on another Xbox here at work (see lansharx 53)...and needless to say, I was thoroughly UNIMPRESSED! It's still great to make fun of while you are playing though.
That brings me back over to Oblivion. While I am in no way a fan of the game, the only thing that has made it bareable is being able to shit-talk the entire time. One of my co-workers is a big Elder Scrolls fan (and so far, he doesn't like Oblivion either really), but he hangs out while I'm playing and we just throw back-and-forth-chatter between each other. It's hilarious. I wish I could record me playing the game. I think people would either get a really good laugh or they'd say "man, he says more retarded shit when he's playing games than he does on the interwebz!". Also...for those that claim Oblivion's so-called "technical achievements"...I point at Grand Theft Auto III and San Andreas and say "may not have great graphics, but they did everything else better than Oblivion". = / Tough break.
Also, update: F.E.A.R. 2's multiplayer is STILL tough as nails, but I somehow was able to talk three buddies into renting it as well, and with buddies...it's pretty fun...if not still just frustrating as shit. Heavy Armor is just so fucking impenetrable!!! Still, it's great times when your friend shoots his own prox mine in order to kill you as you are coming around the corner, then you pick up the Pulse Weapon on your next respawn and tell him that you're going to run the scoreboard like a train being run on a pornstar! Good laughs...especially when it ends up being true (look at the achievements for that sweet rare "I'll Take Those Odds" achievement...finally got that shit).
Manatassi...I understand what you are saying, but at the same time, I don't agree. There's a better sense of pride in knowing that I'm only playing games that I am genuinely interested in playing, and achievements have also helped me play games that I probably would've never ended up playing...
...fuck, that DOES sound like a pornstar, doesn't it? Willing to try new things and always playing with things he/she is genuinely interested in? Well then...I guess I'm getting gored out at this point. = /
Wow, how come you get sick? Is it motion sickness or you just hate it? :P
Honestly though for all it's flaws I found myself loving the game to bits for some unknown reason, I think that even though there are a lot of bad design choices the game is still crafted really well, and imo whatever facial motion cap tech they are using,it's the most impressive thing since the source engine and HL2/Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines facial animation. It's the first game i've ever seen that has realistic eye movement, to the point I could beleive a real person was on screen if it wasnt for the bad CGI hair and the fact everyone looks perfect (cept chris' arms) heck even most CGI movies dont get facial animation that good.
Weirdly, i've found myself playing it an awful lot, had it 2 days now and i've already finished it 3 times, unlocked everything (yeah I used the egg glitch, I said I enjoyed it, I didnt say I was gonna play it 30+ times to unlock everything) and am working on the last two difficulty modes before I hit the 1k points. A lot of the achievements are really fun too, a good balance of creative kills, random chance stuff (Shoot a guy in the head as he is jumping wtf lol, unless you know the trick :P) and the standard unlock all/finish all difficulties.
I also really like the fact it has a chapter select menu, there is always a couple stages in any game I hate, and in this one its the damned temple stuff with the deadly light laser things and stupid spear jumping "PRess X to not die" guys. So not having to do those until i'm ready is really awesome.
Honestly with some better design decisions I reckon this could have been absolutely amazing, as it stands it's just really good (imo at least)
Oblivion was a technical marvel when it was released, I think we tend to forget just how old it's getting now. But that was it, has had some flashy graphics and a new and improved way of handling how the AI carries itself for day to day duties, everything was completely standard (at best) and I really disagree (to the max!) with anyone who says it's even a good RPG nowadays, let alone "Teh best ev4r!!" but again, just imo.
Edit:
I played the original FEAR on PC, liked it but not enough to play it more although the AI was pretty cool for its time so I revelled in that for a while. But shit, on the Xbox I bought it super cheap ages ago (like £5 or something) and took one look at the achievements and shit my pants. I mean, fuck, that's one hard list of achieves, I mean a friend of mine has 1k on PDZ, CoD5, CoD2, and every other 'hard' game under the sun. But FEAR? He's got like 170. I didnt even bother to try. Are the sequels achieves that insane?
@The_A_Drain: F.E.A.R., F.E.A.R. Files, and F.E.A.R. 2 are all pretty hardcore achievement games. I know Vinchenzo here at Giant Bomb has 1k on F.E.A.R. 2...which is one of the main reasons I decided to pick it back up...just so I can try to 1K it also. I'm going to have to BUY the game to pull that shit off, though...and I'm trying to justify even a $20 price for a game with literally about 30 people in the online community for it. = / Even then...most of them are just doing it for achievements anyways. lol
As for RE5, I'm not exactly a purist, but I just don't like the action-oriented direction they took the game in...and I definitely didn't like the one big selling point they had for the game: co-op. It was already bad enough that I had to go all Ico in RE4 with a dumbass chick that got herself killed too easily (to the point that they had to put her in knight's armor as a bonus!). Now they took all the scare out of the games (not that they were really scary before anyways) and instead decided that they want to be a shooting game.
RE5 is really a "love it or hate it" game. Either way, people aren't right or wrong. It's just the dividing point between one crowd of RE gamers from yesteryear and another crowd of newer RE gamers. There are those from yesteryear that dig the game...but I just can't agree with them or see what they dig about it. Between the lack of logical controls versus enemies (as you pointed out earlier in this blog's comments), the lack of genuinely good boss battles that don't involve crazy quick-time events, the lack of genuine fright/dread/scares, and the lack of a decent story including the fact that ***SPOILERS IN CASE YOU HAVE BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK*** Jill is alive and trying to kill you because Wesker says so ***END SPOILERS AND LEARN TO SURF THE WEB***, I just don't understand how people really enjoy the game.
Nonetheless, people do...so whatever floats the boat and flips the switch. = /
I think I'm plugging in F.E.A.R. 2 tonight to get my Intel and Reflex Injector achievements done. Rares FTW!!! After that...hell...I don't know what I'm going to play, but I'm tempted to put in Skate 2 just to check it out at least. Then again, I've been digging Fight Night Round 4...except for the LACK OF FUCKING ONLINE RANKED MATCHES!!!
@jakob187: Nice blog post, I laughed throughout the whole time reading it (especially the Oblivion part). Man I sure wish I could play Red Faction: Guerrilla. I have at least played the demo but at first I wasn't really that impressed, that is, until I made a giant hole on the building with my hammer. Oh and about Prince of Persia, it's a good game but expect it to be very easy; so easy it kinda like when your mother held your hand when you were little. Other than that, its pretty good.
Another update: after playing more Round 4, I don't mind the corner game so much. It promotes actually LANDING punches rather than just throwing wildly like an amateur. Unfortunately, I've found that if someone is playing as Lennox Lewis, the match is effectively over for his opponent. That reach is deadly, and since your head takes TREMENDOUS health loss after a certain number of hits start beefing up your momentum and stamina...as well as those lucky flash haymakers and counter-punches that throw your health into the red...which is seems Lennox ALWAYS fucking does...I've kind of realized why Fight Night Round 4 has no online ranked going for the moment...as it would seem. Maybe adding the button presses in later this year will be a good thing, as it will offer vastly more precise hitting and the ability to...I don't know...get past the reach and wild throws of jabs that always seem to register when you are trying to throw a fucking hook.
Oh I totally agree, i'm a definate Resi purist, but I still like 4 and 5 as action games. I'm vehemently against the direction they took the series, it broke my heart. I've rambled about it far too often to go into it again here though.
So I was not the only one who disliked Oblivion I see. I agree with you about almost everything you said about the game, except I'd say the draw distance is actually quite good.
However, I have to agree with you about the animations and the load times, plus I don't find the graphics that brilliant.
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