I got Dead Nation free after the PSN hack of 2011, but I could never get into it. It seemed pretty solid, from a mechanics standpoint, and it made for a fine co-op distraction for an hour or so, but there was something that didn't click. Maybe it was the fact that it was "yet another zombie game" in the era of too many zombie games. Didn't really leave much of an impression, anyhow.
On the other hand, after a marathon three hour session this evening, I can confirm that my initial impressions of Alienation are pretty glowing for the same reasons others have mentioned above: great loot and leveling systems, much better enemy variety, seamless online play, and tightened controls. My only disappointment with it (so far) is that it lacks split-screen co-op, but I think Housemarque have hinted via Twitter that it will come in a future update. Still, it has pulled me away from Dark Souls III--a truly miraculous feat.
Played the original Fallout first back in 1997. Lots of nostalgia there. Actually remember playing the pre-release demo on a PC Gamer disc, which if I recall actually involved some weird scenario not found in the finished game--warring gangs if I remember correctly. Fallout 2, I recall, came out around my birthday in 1998. I remember riding my bike to the nearest shopping mall after school, some ten miles, just to get it. It was dark by the time I was heading home and I nearly got killed riding along a regional highway without reflectors. (Worth it.)
This is definitely one of the "good" AC games, and after about four hours I'm enjoying it quite a bit, but I don't think there's enough here to reinvigorate the franchise. Like Black Flag, this is a good game marred by the typical AC nonsense--spotty controls, bad camera, glitches, poor mission design, overabundance of collectibles--that has existed since the first game. Having played through most of the games, the evolution of the series in terms of mechanics has always been about minimizing frustrations of existing systems rather than introducing any real innovation in traversal, stealth and combat, and Syndicate continues that tradition by making the combat very basic and by giving you the grappling hook to make climbing super easy.
Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but what bugged me about the discussion of Witcher 3 in this week's podcast was how collectively dismissive they were of it before moving on to talk--yet again--about a patently mediocre game like Destiny. (Granted, only for a few minutes.) I feel like the current west coast crew--especially Jeff, Dan, and Brad--fall into a kind of groupthink sometimes that I find a little numbing. Their tastes are a little too similar, perhaps. Every time Danny comes on, or the GBEast team are in town, things get more interesting on the podcast.
Meh, I still love them--just hope Witcher gets the attention it deserves come GOTY, right alongside of MGS5. It'll certainly be up for my personal top ten, and likely not only of the year but of the decade.
During one of the main quests, you'll meet a character willing to sell you diagrams for new witcher armor. It's stats are higher than any other set I've encountered, including mastercrafted, but it's level requirement is also quite high (39, I believe). There's also new sword diagrams to match that you can find during other quests.
@getz: Though they sometimes lack nuance, as a whole Sarkeesian's arguments have a force to them that's hard to deny, and the kinds of reactions she describes--violent, misognyistic, defensive--serve to reinforce them, which I think is a more generous way of saying what you're saying. The fact that it seems impossible in this climate to have a measured, well-considered debate about the role of women in video games is a symptom of just how bad things have gotten. (Cue the people who are going to tell me that Sarkeesian refuses to have these debates, which is just more misinformation.) I feel bad for Sarkeesian and other women subjected to this kind of harassment, but I'm also concerned for these clearly damaged young men who think this kind of behaviour is appropriate and who lack the trust or confidence to treat women as equals.
I agree that the main missions are lackluster, but what's amazing about Shadows of Mordor is that the combat, stealth, and traversal mechanics are so appealing and the Nemesis system such a joy that it transcends a lot of its defects, like the relative smallness of its world or the dullness of its characters. Unlike most other open world games that I've played, an encounter with a band of roving enemies is never a nuisance or distraction because the game's strengths lie in the fundamentals of its combat. Yes, those mechanics are lifted from the Arkham games, but they've been polished to do an even better job of making you feel like a badass. Mordor is, for me anyway, what the guys were describing on the Bombcast as a perfect "podcast game." I love just inhabiting the world, cutting through tons of orc-flesh, and completing the side missions, and I don't really need the wrapper of a fairly weak story. The main story missions are, as someone pointed out above, largely there to introduce mechanics anyway. This feels like the kind of game in which I'm going to unlock all the achievements for the heck of it, and it's been a long time since I've felt that way.
Seems some of y'all need to check your ignorance as well. Stop beating on this strawman version of feminism spread by internet idiots butthurt by Sarkeesian. The phrase clearly isn't meant to invalidate your personal successes (or struggles) as a straight white male; it just asks you to remember that statistically people like you face fewer obstacles and that others might have to work harder than you to get the same piece of the pie. And, in fact, most of us could be asked to check our privilege regardless of our gender, race, or sexuality; we're likely to be cosmically lucky if we get to spend the middle of our day posting our opinions of message boards--not dying, enslaved, imprisoned, or exploited--and we should recognize that fact. If you feel that somebody is using the phrase as a weapon to invalidate your opinion, then tell them so and then educate them about what the phrase actually means rather than getting defensive. Peace.
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