I just thought I post about a horrible bug in this game before it happens to anyone else or maybe even before you buy the game.
I was just playing the game, minding my own business, having a great time, when during (slight spoilers) a quest for The KIng and NCR I had to return to the strip and I found that gates were locked requiring a key. Turns out sometimes when leaving the strip and doing main faction missions the Strip will be locked forever. There is only one way to get the key, and that is to kill a securotron, however this will break all quests for House (and through that the main quest) and cause securotrons to attack you on sight forever. Some people say that u can do a NCR mission to get another entrance into the strip, however that quest is just as bugged as this. I just wanted to let you guys know about this before you started questing in the Strip or before you purchase this game.
I have to completely restart my game now because of this and I dont want to keep playing in fear of this bullshit from happening again. It really frustrates me that something this game-breaking could happen. I've looked around the internet and this seems to be a very common problem and there seems to be no solution, it seems to occur on all platforms and, at least where I looked, no one knows why this occurs or how to prevent it.
I just wanted to give you guys a heads up.
Also, if anyone knows anyway to prevent this from happening or a way to fix it please let me know. I can't even look at this game until I know I wont be fucked by this again.
2 weeks into the beta, and WOW! I'm surprising myself... Long blog warning...
Well, after a couple days of further pounding the computer in skirmishes, I finally managed to build up the courage to test my mettle online. I decided that the Zerg was probably my best choice for race so I stuck with that and jumped right in.
The practice league matches were a depressing bunch. Loss and after loss. My record was 1-4, only winning due to a disconnect. I was ready to give up and spend the rest of the beta screwing off with the ai. I decided to give the game a couple more shots before tossing it away. I jumped into the placement league and the first couple matches were the usual loss. I felt myself getting a bit better but I still wasn't winning anything. I took a look around the beta forums on Blizzards site and read some stuff for tips.
And I found something... :)
As it turns out, I wasn't building enough drones for resource gathering and I wasn't exactly using the right units. 90% of the beta players are terran right now so they all barracade their base entrance with supply depots and bunkers. No matter what sized force I built, their smaller force could totally destroy mine from their upper position. So I figured out what needed to happen, I had to take these guys from the sky! So, I rethought my build order a bit and worked out a way to tech up to mutalisks (flying dudes that can attack air and ground, for those unfamiliar with starcraft) and do bad things. Not many players expect flying dudes in their base early on, so anti air is somewhat rare.
Well after racking up 3 wins in the back half of the placement league, I got placed into the copper league (the bottom of the 5 leagues), but that's where I belong, so no complaints here. From here on out it's been about a 50-50 split of wins to losses, which really surprises me. I've been using my mutalisks a lot but I've also just got better at using the zerg in general. I'm actually currently ranked 7 in my division and that's WAY better than what i expected to do!
Playing this beta has definitely been a very unique experience. There's really never been anything like it for me. I really feel connected to the community and for the most part people seem to be really good sports about stuff and I've had some good conversations playing the game and even when I win or lose, I'm having a great time! Most people seem to feel the way I do and that is really awesome. I crushed this one guy with my mutalisks and he was very friendly and asked me how I did it, instead of the usual "Fuck You! You cheated!." It's way different than my usual online experience where people are big dicks and the only things people say are rude and hateful.
Probably the most exciting thing that's happened to me so far was getting in a 1v1 with OneupNetwork. I literately shouted when I saw I was against them and it was one hell of a battle. Of course, I was totally stomped but it's not very often people get to play one on one with game journalists... It was a surreal experience throughout the entire match and I'm just glad i got a good attack on their main base before I was crushed.
Other than that crazy, dream-like match, I did have one other amazing match. I was playing this other zerg player who would just not give up. I had taken out 90% of his building, drones, and units, but he had a small base off in a corner where you had to fly to get to. Of course, by this point he knew I was using mutalisks so he built 15 or so anti air spore colonies. And no matter how many mutalisks I sent, I'd lose them all... and by the time I built more he'd have even more colonies up. So I had to do I very precise operation to use my Overlords (troop carriers) to bring some hydralisks (ground troopers) over to a bare corner (about 2 X 2 units in size) and use mutalisks to draw his anti air fire. It worked, but just barely, I ended up losing 2 hydralisks when he killed my overlords, but i got him, the base was wrecked... At this point he only had 2 extractors (useless buildings at this point) on the other side of the map... and he wouldn't give up. I had to fly and destroy them, I would consider this bad sportsmanship on his part, except I just think he was stubborn, and it made my victory that much sweeter.
So in closing, I love Starcraft 2, I don't totally suck, I played 1up, and I'm gonna keep playing the shit out of this game! More to follow!
Other Things: -General Knoxx is really hard... -Battlefield Bad Company 2 is not for me... not enough structure -Got Fable 2 for 20 bucks... maybe I'll play it -FFXIII hits nets week, contemplating a purchase
Well I was one of the few lucky people and got into the SC2 beta, and it's been one hell of an experience...
Starcraft always held a special place in my life. It was one of the first games I ever played as a kid... and I contnued to play it all the way through Jr. High. However, when I was a kid I was a weak-ass gamer and I only played skirmish matches with cheats. So, in short... I've never actually won a real Starcraft match. Well, due to my complete lack of RTS skill I haven't really jumped into any other RTS and my skill is 0. But out of some divine luck, I got selected into wave 1 of the Starcraft beta... funny huh?
Well, I decided that it was time I actually played some real matches of Starcraft this time, and maybe I'll actually get good.
In the beta currently the only ai difficulty is Very Easy... and well, that's a fitting difficulty for me. So far, I haven't lost an ai match and I actually feel somewhat confident about the game. The game is very forgiving with the ai, they just seem to make very bad decisions (like very few workers, not building defenses or large armies)... In other words... they play like me! It's been nice because I'm free to experiment and learn the basics of the game without much fear of loss.
Well, as per usual, my confidence got the better of me, I jumped right into an online 2v2 match... and brother... I lasted about 6 minutes... so I jumped into a 1v1, about 8 minutes... and this was the practice league... lol... So I decide to jump back into the ai matches and learn the game a bit more. So far, I've played about 50 or so ai matches all wins (except for one where i thought i had paused the game... and I hadn't... but that doesn't count!) and 2 online matches, 2 losses.
I have to say though, I'm kinda mad at myself for ruining my original starcraft experience with cheats when I was young. I never thought I'd be an RTS fan, but i really am. There's just some weird tingle I get when I build the high tier units and go stomp some feeble ai opponent, or even see an online opponents ridiculously sized force and foolishly attempt to salvage my forces. Starcraft is a great game from top to bottom and I feel so goddamn lucky I got into the beta.
Some interesting things I've learned: - When you run out of resources at a base, its a big hassle to move... ugh... - The Protoss Mothership is a bad motherfucker... cloaks all your units and it has some killer powers - The terrans are pretty lame... I haven't had any fun playing them so far - Even ai opponents will say 'gg' when defeated... its a nice touch - A good zerg vs ai strategy: Build a shit load of hydralisks and zerglings...nothing else... - It took me 15 matches to find this out but the Zerg queen can force more larva out... very useful for army building - Build lots of workers early on like 20ish... and immediately expand... since the ai isn't gonna rush you... spend time teching up... - The Protoss are totally OP... and I LOVE it...
I'm going to continue playing the shit out of this game and I'll probably have more to say eventually...
Other stuff: -New Borderlands expansion is either so-so or the greatest thing ever... I haven't decided yet... -Great way to get a girlfriend into games: Pac Man Championship Edition -Heard a band called Manchester Orchestra on the radio last night, just bought their album.. goddamn its good... -Still getting butterflies from Dragon Age: Awakening info, also Return to Ostagar was kinda lame...
Just thought I’d post a blog of some of my thoughts on the games I’ve been playing recently. I might make this a regular thing... depends on the response... but anyways...
Been playing a crapload of games lately. After coming back to work after the break I’ve had a significant cashflow increase and I have been putting it to good use! Recently I’ve picked up Mass Effect 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and played some Darksiders and Assassins Creed 2, and of course, I picked up a copy of Bioshock 2 yesterday.
Some Thoughts: (and of course spoilers ahead)
Assassin’s Creed 2:
When I first picked this game up, I hated everything about the gameplay but loved the story. I played through it to about the half way point (Sequence 6 or 7) before getting so frustrated at an Assassins tomb I pulled the disk out and didn’t touch it for weeks. The only thing that brought me back was seeing the ending on youtube. I’m glad i did too because this game is excellent. The thing that I realized is that AC2 is as fun as you make it. Just running from objective to objective makes that game real dull...
Once I figured out how to play tis game it got real interesting. I found the most fun way to approach combat was to use disarm on a polearm dude and knock fools over and poke them to death. Priceless. And that final fistfight is one hell of a sequence. Overall a great game, with some glaring flaws but worth playing anyways. Maybe I’ll write a review later... though I doubt it
Mass Effect 2:
I don’t want to come off as some crazy Bioware fanboy... but goddamn! This is one hell of a game. I just love the open ended structure and the removal of those clunky rpg mechanics makes for a better game. And playing as an intergalactic space badass Shepard feels so good. This game just has a level of polish and detail that most games don’t even come close.
The ending was very conflicting for me. I’m not sure if its the greatest or worst thing ever. The way that the suicide mission works is very frustrating. Not really being able to see the correlation as to what decisions cause what people to die makes the completionist/perfectionist in me scream in anger, but its also very realistic and creates a sense of unknown weight and actually brings value to the idea of a suicide mission. So, I’m torn as to whether the lack of correlation is a horrible way to design a game or a great way to make a statement.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Yea yea yea... I know this game is like 16 months old. But I managed to pick a copy of the “Ultimate Sith Edition” for 20 bucks. (btw. awesome name for a special edition, much better than Game Of The Year, but i guess TFU didn’t win any of those anyways... but i digress). This game is kinda... bad. I enjoy the “what if” storyline but this game feels very last gen. And that’s a bad thing this far into this generation. The graphics in this game feel very janky and stilted. The gameplay is very old school in a very linear level structure with uninteresting boss battles and enemies that all feel the same but with different animations. The physics is the only saving grace of the game but its so underdeveloped and the gameplay sorta pushes you to not use this stuff. I don’t expect myself to finish this game with all of the other games coming out... but if I do I’ll write something up.
Darksiders:
This game feels like what the 12 year old me would make after going to sunday school. The story takes the basic apocalypse scenario and puts some “cool” twists on it. The game feels so childish in presentation that I find myself sickened by the entire thing. I played about an hour and a half before being so frustrated with the looks, feel, and characters that I found myself ecstatic that I was borrowing this game and didn’t buy it myself. I hear there’s a good game here, but I’m not going to look for it.
Batman: Arkham Asylum:
Just thinking about this game is making me want to play it. This game is so original and has so much polish that I really can’t believe it was made by a practically unknown developer. It’s just so much fun to stalk enemies and perform silent takedowns and trying to figure out how to take out all of the armed enemies without getting spotted. And the Scarecrow levels... OMG... This is the kind of game where I finding myself wanting to play just one more section and continuing to play well into the night. I’m about half way through and I can’t wait to play through the rest!
Bioshock 2:
I was one of the anti-bioshock 2 people coming up to the release. I loved Bioshock, but I didn’t see any need for a sequel. I had absolutely no intent in getting this game and I would scoff at my friends who were excited. Well... I have to say... I haven’t been so wrong since my Too Human excitement. After hearing buzz and seeing the positive reviews I decided to pick it up.
Well... This game is awesome. This game is everything that you would want out of a bioshock sequel. For a game that is following an already concluded story it does a great job. This game isn’t bioshock and it will never had the level of appeal or weight. But this game is a hell of fun to play. It takes all of the issues with the first (Hacking, combat, etc.) and improves it in great ways. and it creates a story and world that are worthy of taking place in Rapture. I’ve only played 3 hours or so, but as I continue through it, I’ll definitely write more.
Some other stuff:
-Watched a buddy of mine play Halo Wars. Looks kinda dumb, but I’m not a Halo or RTS fan so It’s not for me anyways. Pretty cutscenes tho. -Hate the new bombcast theme, I get the joke but I hope its a one time thing. -Talk about new Dragon Age expansion gives me butterflies in my stomach... so pumped.
Well, I think thats about it... I hope it was enjoyable... -Inf225
Well, last month I found myself fighting my way through AC2 to get to the ending in which I hear everyone talk about and eventually, well... I had to give up. I really wanted to see the cool ending and I absolutely love all of the story elements in that game, but i found the actual gameplay to be troublesome. I know there are many of you out there who love the gameplay and stealth action but its not for me, and this really bugs me because of how much I enjoy the story. But anyways, I had to give up and I moved on to other, more suitable games (Dragon Age, Uncharted, etc.). Well, i finally got sick of it and wanted to figure out the story, so I did the evil thing and read a plot summary... well now I want to play ac2! I mean aliens! holy crap!
So i guess my question you guys out there has the ever been a game that upon spoiling it, you actually wished you had played it?
I'd probably have to say Portal. There are so many lines in that game that made me laugh so hard I forgot what I was supposed to be doing. Especially the final boss, nothing is better than destroying a boss and having it try and demoralize you with increasingly awful insults. Finally, once that crazy robot bitch is melted, out of nowhere, you get the most awesome and random musical experience ever. Classic....
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