Videogames

#301

I waited so long for State of Decay to come out on PC, and they neglected to fix the console-centric narrow FOV. Ugh, instantly unplayable.

#302

Left 4 Dead 2 just went free on Steam, in case anyone doesn't have that.

#303

Assassin's Creed 4 is just the mutts nuts. LOVE the piracy part of the game - Ubisoft have implemented it really well; it feels completely intrinsic to the experience, and not tacked-on. It's also fucking awesome fun. Highly recommended!

#304

Haven't tried ac4 yet (ps4). Just picked up xb1 w dead rising and ryse tho. Now i can insult myself fir being a sony fanboy and MS stooge. Lol.

#305

Fir? Ffs stupid iphone os7 acting up again!

#306

Tigzy wrote:Assassin's Creed 4 is just the mutts nuts. LOVE the piracy part of the game - Ubisoft have implemented it really well; it feels completely intrinsic to the experience, and not tacked-on. It's also fucking awesome fun. Highly recommended!

Got a PS4 last Thursday. Got AC4 for it after a lot of hesitation. I'd only finished AC2 the week before (the first one put me off the series for a long while), so I thought I'd be burned out on the gameplay. And the boat stuff seemed very out of place despite that everyone seemed to love it. Good gods was I wrong about everything. I think my opinion can best be summed up as:

[youtube]3A19q7rysLs[/youtube]

Speaking of which, the sea shanties are amazing. I might have to track down the soundtrack.

#307

I tell you, the first time you have a successful naval battle in AC4 and go on to board the stricken enemy ship with your fellow pirates - well, it's truly one of those 'Holy shit, this is better than life!' moments.

Great, great game.

#308

It's a downright beautiful game too. Not just because of graphical fidelity, but more that it's simply bursting with colour. I got to a cutscene last night where at the end it lingers for a few moments on a shot of a beach at sunset, and damn...

And then I went and wrestled an alligator.

#309

Not to toot my own horn, but I'm starting to get better at game videos, and if anyone has experience with such a thing, I'd appreciate any hints, at least on my last two (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... tkHcmlKv7m - the montage and Blood). I know the montage is long, but I worked so long at it, I didn't want to split it up, which would be better. I also need to look into some free/non-copyright music for an opening. Blood could use one. I decided to use text instead of voice overs since my roommate was awake, and I usually do that late at night when I'm the only one up. Plus, I got to play around a bit. Plus, I didn't have anything scripted out, and kinda worked on these on a whim.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

#310

Damn - actually, the montage could be three - I could have used the glitched game with a few other clips to show the problems. Tighter focus too. I did think of using Mack the Knife (one of my old favorites, tbh).

#311

Threefer - plus, I know the advice for slides and presentations of limiting the different number of special effects, but I wanted to play around a bit. A lot of the things I want to do can be done pretty easy in Final Cut Pro X (so far)

#312

Fourfer ? I will break the long montage up. I like longer clips, but i can shorten it and focus better. Put the funnier clips in a more jokey set. Won't be until next weekend probably. Might add some music to Blood. Herb Alpert "rise" (i think. Heard on the way to work) is calm and 70s, like an older hammer film.

#313

I haven't played this yet (waiting for it to come out on PS4) but it doesn't really matter how it plays, I'm calling it now: game of the year.

[youtube]-Ol3ZxZSEhY[/youtube]

#314

I've been stuck all sunday on Xenoblade Chronicles. I need to LvL up a LOT.

I got my hand on Red Steel 2: Gehena, also for the Wii. Post apocalyptic, SamuraÃ¯-inspired western FPS. You use your Wiimote to control your katana and your gun. Pretty fun to play once you get a good grip on the fight mechanics.

[youtube]9TWkRijLvmk[/youtube]

#315

I'm still farting around with Elder Scrolls Skyrim, and Portal 2 fan mods.

#316

It's sad that Resident Evil 6 continues the franchise's downward spiral into irrelevance. It's a total schizo-game and just spoils a lot of memories, especially when it put Sherry Birkin into the game; turning that little girl from Resident Evil 2 into a sexed-up ditzy blonde action girl was horrible. Gameplay is all over the map. It's like Call of Duty meets Alien meets Need For Speed.

#317

ROBOKiTTY wrote:It's sad that Resident Evil 6 continues the franchise's downward spiral into irrelevance. It's a total schizo-game and just spoils a lot of memories, especially when it put Sherry Birkin into the game; turning that little girl from Resident Evil 2 into a sexed-up ditzy blonde action girl was horrible. Gameplay is all over the map. It's like Call of Duty meets Alien meets Need For Speed.

Is that the one released last year (or so)? The one with three separate storylines? If so, I played the demo and didn't care for it. Never saw the popularity of the series. Playing a super-cop who can't hip fire or aim while walking was just....WTF?

#318

yarr. Resident Evil used to be about survival horror, from 1 to Code Veronica. But then Capcom had to go and reinterpret the franchise into an action-shooter in 4. It all went downhill from there as the game tried unsuccessfully to emulate the action theme set by the crappy offshoot movie franchise. Some fan-favourite characters seem to have been abandoned (Jill, Barry, Claire, Rebecca, Carlos), existing characters were made unlikable (notably Chris), and more unlikable characters were introduced (mostly Piers and Jake). The game is truly having an identity crisis.

#319

So I have been playing two games, both on Steam in early access.

7 Days to Die is a zombie-survival crafting-building game in the style of Minecraft, but more realism-oriented. It's in alpha and still rough around the edges and has lolzy graphics and physics, but it's pretty enjoyable, and updates are coming at a regular pace. It definitely has potential.

Starbound is a Terraria clone in space, which means it's a 2D Metroid-Castlevania-Minecraft game. It's got more promising depth to it than Terraria and has a lot of content for a half-finished game. It's in active development as well, so I'm definitely watching this game for further progress.

I'm also a budding hobbyist game developer, and my latest project is going to be a Tactics Ogre/Final Fantasy Tactics clone. No promises on how far I'll get, though.

#320

Anyone here a Skyrim expert? I've acquired the Ancient Falmer Armor, the cool white stuff -- talk about White Guy Privlege; these guys are albino elves! -- but I cannot seem to upgrade it. It tells me I do not have the necessary skills, but that's bogus because I've got 100 Smithing, all the perks, and a ton of Refined Moonstone. Anyone have any idea what the problem might be?

#321

John Greg wrote:Anyone here a Skyrim expert? I've acquired the Ancient Falmer Armor, the cool white stuff -- talk about White Guy Privlege; these guys are albino elves! -- but I cannot seem to upgrade it. It tells me I do not have the necessary skills, but that's bogus because I've got 100 Smithing, all the perks, and a ton of Refined Moonstone. Anyone have any idea what the problem might be?

you might need to reset your skill and rank up in it again. It's been a while but that might affect it.

#322

Eek! I hope not. But thanks for the suggestion.

#323

John Greg wrote:Eek! I hope not. But thanks for the suggestion.

I think the Falmer armor is in the expansion? the one island you go to? I haven't been there, but you might need to get training with someone there - like getting the power armor perk in Fallout.

#324

http://www.flashasylum.com/db/files/Com ... ungeon.png
http://explosm.net/comics/3486/
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

#325

Badger3k said:

I think the Falmer armor is in the expansion? the one island you go to? I haven't been there, but you might need to get training with someone there - like getting the power armor perk in Fallout.

Yes, it's the Dawnguard expansion. I don't think you're right about the training -- for one thing, there are no empty spots, so to speak, in the Skills and Perks map. Nonetheless, I'll go back to the Forgotten Vale, or whatever it's called, and see if I can dig anything up.

#326

John Greg wrote:Badger3k said:

I think the Falmer armor is in the expansion? the one island you go to? I haven't been there, but you might need to get training with someone there - like getting the power armor perk in Fallout.
Yes, it's the Dawnguard expansion. I don't think you're right about the training -- for one thing, there are no empty spots, so to speak, in the Skills and Perks map. Nonetheless, I'll go back to the Forgotten Vale, or whatever it's called, and see if I can dig anything up.

Yeah. The no slots thing makes me think it's a one-time perk that you are given for doing something quest-related.

#327

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Advanced_Armors

It seems that you need several smithing skills to upgrade. Search Falmer armor there as well, it's what led me to this.

#328

As I noted, I have 100% Smithing skills and all the perks. There are no more available.

Ya, I checked the Wikia, and elsewhere. I can find no comments about anyone having trouble with the Ancient Falmer armor. Falmer armor requires Chaurus Chilton, but the Ancient Falmer armor is listed as requiring Refined Moonstone. I tried the Moonstone, but maybe I should try the Chaurus Chilton in case there is some kind of mistake on the Wikia.

I am using two mods (The Stones of Baranzia, and The Alchemist's Compendium), and I know that some mods conflict with various things, so that too might be an issue. I'll unsubscribe and see if that makes a difference.

... a one-time perk that you are given for doing something quest-related.

Hmm. Well, I can try and track it down, but I cannot find anything on the Wikia or elsewhere that supports that idea -- but I'll give it some more search and review.

#329

Oh well, unsubbing the mods made no difference. It's weird, I tell ya, weird. When I try to upgrade the armor I get a message saying I do not have the required skill, but, as I say, I have 100% skill and perks, so maybe it is, as you suggest, something that I need to get from the living white Falmer guy, or something in Forgotten Vale.

Trudge, trudge, trudge.

#330

John Greg wrote:Oh well, unsubbing the mods made no difference. It's weird, I tell ya, weird. When I try to upgrade the armor I get a message saying I do not have the required skill, but, as I say, I have 100% skill and perks, so maybe it is, as you suggest, something that I need to get from the living white Falmer guy, or something in Forgotten Vale.

Trudge, trudge, trudge.

Does the armor have enchantments? In that case you need to level up your enchanting. There's a perk in there that allows you to upgrade magic armor.

--

I recently tried out the Thief reboot. First of all, I went in expecting a stealth game and it was. So far, so good. The graphics? Great! They say even better with a 120hz monitor, unfortunately I'm stuck with a regular 60hz one. The amount of options they've added to mold the experience to your play style is fantastic, and it's clear they created this version with PC in mind. BUT! And you knew there was a but... they seriously dropped the ball on the theft aspect. Which considering Thief is all about theft is pretty damn condemning. All the houses are empty! Sure, there are guards that you can either avoid (which is the preferred method) or subdue (knock them out) but once you're in a house where you can steal? There are no civilians to speak of, no one patrolling or anything! It completely takes the fun out of stealing their valuables. Not to mention whenever you take something, whether it be a precious irreplacable painting or a paltry trinket, you get a score on the screen akin to Call of Duty.

It's still a fun game, and if you're a Thief enthusiast (like I am) you will definitely get some enjoyment out of it, but this took down the rating a bit. I haven't finished it yet so I can't say for certain whether this rating is final, but right now it's 8/10. It's a well-polished game and with the options reducing or alternatively adding to the difficulty, it has replayability up the arse. But just for the theft aspect being in my humble opinion utterly botched, I'm not trudging through it with as much enjoyment as I would like. I say play it to anyone who likes/liked Thief but to anyone else, I recommend Dishonored. Ironically Dishonored kept you more on your toes and there you played an assassin.

#331

Pitchguest said:

Does the armor have enchantments?

No.

In that case you need to level up your enchanting.

No. The enchantment skill and perks only need to be levelled up to actually place an enchantment on something and to increase the quality/power of the enchantment.

There's a perk in there that allows you to upgrade magic armor.

Got it. As I say, I have 100% armor skills, and all available armor skill perks.

I've tried everything, and looked everywhere. I figure it's just some kind of oddball glitch. Or -- this just occcurred to my old man's brain -- it might be that because I acquired the armor when my overall level was fairly high, I simply may not be able to increase the armor's current level anymore anyway -- maxxed out, as it were.

#332

I've been playing Dark Souls 2 lately. It is tough to play through but I'm still having fun playing it anyway.

#333

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU--

Just prepared for lethal in Hearthstone when SUDDENLY... I got disconnected. But not because of MY internet connection, oh no! BLIZZARD'S SERVERS DISCONNECTED! AGAIN! :angry-banghead:

#334

John Greg:

Yeah, it's probably a bug then. You should still be able to upgrade your armour regardless when you picked it up.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Ancient_Falmer_Armor

#335

If I'd frapsed every single game I've had on Hearthstone, the majority of them would be 1) good start 2) lose momentum 3) regain momentum 4) about to win 5) carpet pulled out from under me as they pull some bullshit magic combination underneath their frock and win

I'm not joking. Most of the time, this has happened and Hearthstone is mostly RNG so I have to conclude I am one of the unluckiest motherfuckers alive. Other times it's been no luck with the draws while the opponent gets everything they fucking need, either already in the hand or they topdeck it. It's bullshit, and yet it's luck-based so I can't really complain. Fuuuck thiiis gaaame.

#336

Just finished South Park, the Stick of Truth. If you like the show, you'll love the game. It's like being in the show. Also went back and continued Arkham Origins, and while it took me a bit to get the controls back down, I did manage to get to and beat Deathstroke, which was fun to watch. I now regret turning off my capture app without saving my playthrough, even if it took me 3-4 tries.

#337

Currently having a blast with Wolfenstein The New Order, though the game was a bit of bastard on my system at first - screen-tear, texture pop-in all over the place, a dire framerate and crashes. Turned out, however, that these were common problems if your graphics card driver is out of date, so after updating the driver, I'm throughly luvvin some biomech-nazi slaying action at a damn fine 60fps (1440x900) with graphics quality set high.

Compared with Wolfenstein 2009 - another favourite of mine - it's a much tighter, twitchier shooter. Where I found the action in the 2009 version to be very 'flowing', with long drawn out firefights which you could savour, Stein TNO has it coming at you in short, sharp & pretty devastating bursts. This is no bad thing, IMO - here, when I was fending off a horde of nazis & robots, I found myself going, 'Oh fuck, oh fuck, stop already!!!', but the moment of victory afterwards is all the better for it. It should also be said that you can take a stealth approach in the set pieces if you want, which adds another layer variety you don't get with the previous 'Stein. Me, I'm just happy blasting the fuckers.

There's plenty of gore, as you would expect from a Stein game, and given that this is a next-gen version, the upped graphics quality really does show some seriously fucked-over bodies once you're done with them. No Leichenfaust 44 alas (so far - I've not completed it yet, so you never know), but Caroline Becker is back, and a way better character then she was in Stein 2009. Also, BJ gets called a cunt by Fergus.

#338

I love Steam sales, especially when they let me buy Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut for 3 quid. Blimey, I'd forgotten how much I love that game!

Also, has anyone tried out Watch Dogs yet? I keep thinking I want it, but I'm buggered if I'm getting it on PC and having to install UPlay.

Also also, it's probably not happening, and I probably shouldn't get my hopes up, but... another rumour hinting that Red Dead Redemption might finally be coming to PC...

#339

Watch Dogs on PC has one major dealbreaker: unalterable console FOV. Shame on them for forgetting this basic and fundamental issue that makes many 3D games unplayable to a lot of people.

Fortunately, there seems to be a way to change it using an external program:

[youtube]yEzhUOJfECw[/youtube]

#340

One thing that is really ridiculous about Watch Dogs is how sensitive the cops are. It's like the devs saw how lax the police are in GTA and decided to ramp it up to eleven. Fire a pistol within a witness's hearing, and the cops will be there within a minute with helicopters and half a dozen squad cars and shoot you on sight.

#341

Well I'm stuck with whatever FOV I get given anyway, since I'll be playing it on console (I still resolutely refuse to install UPlay, and Origin can piss off too, while we're on the subject). That's a bloody enormous oversight, though, and the cop thing's an odd design choice.

I reckon it'll be a purchase when it's come down in price, although I have to admit the spider-tank side-games look kinda fun. It just doesn't look quite like it's worth the full price, and I can't for the life of me figure out why, 'cos I've been hankering after it since it was first announced.

Weirdness. Maybe I got burnt out on the rumours before it went on sale.

Anyway, there's a couple of indie games that look more deserving of attention, first: there's The Hum (post-alien invasion survival horror, with abductions and mind-altering weirdness as a gameplay mechanic, instead of jump scares) on the one hand, and on the other, there's the next game from the bloke what made Papers Please, Return of the Obra Dinn (first-person mystery game set in 1808 on a merchant ship that's got more than a passing resemblance to the Marie Celeste, and designed to look like an old monochrome Mac game).

Those two have me really intrigued...

#342

Just keeping up - sniper elite 3 is fun. The AI has it's moments (stood next to a guy, shot and missed with my silenced pistol, and he just stood there looking to my right, until I reloaded and killed him), but is generally decent. I do like the x-ray kills - the testicle hits are the best. And hitting a guy on the ground and going crotch to head was cool. Really getting into the stealth aspect, and looking for ways around and masking shots with sounds. But when push comes to shove, the straight up firefights can be tough. My first for the series.

#343

oh cool a gaming thread...

I guess my main game atm is Robocraft. It's a free alpha game where you build a vehicle (leggo/minecraft style) and then take your vehicle to battle against other players. It uses the same engine as Kerbal.

http://robocraftgame.com/

Anyway want to become steam friends or youtube buds, please PM or just respond here.

#344

Games I've been playing lately include StepMania, Portal 2, and the Thinking With Time Machine Portal 2 mod. Thinking With Time Machine is pretty challenging.

#345

For those that remember the ancient LucasArts game Loom - there's a fan-made sequel in the works, called Forge.

http://forgegame.com/

http://www.g4g.it/g4g2/wp-content/uploa ... m_2_01.jpg

#346

Pitchguest wrote:If I'd frapsed every single game I've had on Hearthstone, the majority of them would be 1) good start 2) lose momentum 3) regain momentum 4) about to win 5) carpet pulled out from under me as they pull some bullshit magic combination underneath their frock and win

I'm not joking. Most of the time, this has happened and Hearthstone is mostly RNG so I have to conclude I am one of the unluckiest motherfuckers alive. Other times it's been no luck with the draws while the opponent gets everything they fucking need, either already in the hand or they topdeck it. It's bullshit, and yet it's luck-based so I can't really complain. Fuuuck thiiis gaaame.

Well after reading you write about it, I found it and played it. So far here is my handy hints. Take 12 class cards not including cards that are playable minions, build your minion deck around them, try and duplicate as many cards as you can, take about four 1 mana minions and about 2 2 mana minions. The other ten make sure you've got at least one silence and one high level taunt.

I still get beat, but not as often as I thought I would.

Oh and Shaman is horrible.

#347

That should be four 2 mana minions.

#348

Murdered: Soul Suspect is officially my favourite game ever.

(Adventure gamin'/puzzle solvin'/crime stuff is my bag.)

#349

Destiny, anyone? I had a lot of fun in the alpha/beta, so I've been stupid and pre-ordered. But what the hell, I want to play it regardless, so no point in waiting for reviews that will have no impact on my decision.

If anyone will be playing it on PS4 my PSN ID is GaladanWolf, feel free to add me.

#350

rayshul wrote:Murdered: Soul Suspect is officially my favourite game ever.

(Adventure gamin'/puzzle solvin'/crime stuff is my bag.)

If you haven't played them yet, I suggest the Blackwell anthology of games. Designed in the old school type of adventure games (think Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father), it has a similar setup (you're a psychic with a ghost as your companion) and you solve crime as well as helping other ghosts to move on. They're good.

#351

I'm playing Destiny as well, but on xb1. I'm griffinmage add me!

#352

Okay, so I finally got around to play Murdered: Soul Suspect myself. Verdict? Not good.

While the premise drew me in, the rest of the game just wasn't that good. The scenery was decent, but not great. The gameplay was decent, but not as compelling as it seemed. The problem solving sort of reminded me of L.A. Noire in how you looked for clues and the way you found psychic traces on items (a new mechanic) I thought was interesting, but after a while it became repetetive. Ironically, in the same way like L.A. Noire. A shame, because I really thought it had potential.

A couple of things I thought was a nice touch. The game takes place in Salem, which has a bit of history during the late 1600's, and the bit of city you're exploring have these ghostly buildings and objects, remnants from the past. There's a part where you see a historical plaque of how a building was burnt to the ground for harbouring heretics (or something to that effect) and in the game in that spot you can see a ghostly building still burning. Ghosts can't pass through them but the people alive can. I thought that was very cool. Unfortunately the novelty of it quickly dissipates. Still, credit where credit's due. The other thing is how you can sometimes spot images of ghosts in the distance. There are other ghosts you can talk to and interact with, those are distinct. But at times you see these apparitions that disappear when you get too close to them or when you zoom in to get a better look. Truth be told, it startled the hell out of me the first time. It doesn't help that the ambience is eerie as hell. After a while I began to shudder just walking through the city, ghostly apparitions appearing and disappearing with the background music acting like a baby's whimper.

Anyway. Those were the things I thought were intriguing. The rest of the game, unfortunately, was not up to par.

The story, as it progresses, is dull. The main character is dull. The supporting characters are dull. Even the conclusion (which I won't reveal) is dull and, sadly, predictable. The NPC's that walk around the city to make it seem like stuff is happening don't do much, and they don't effect gameplay. You can read their minds. That's it. The small bit of the city that you can walk around in is so incredibly bleak and boring (perhaps to emphasise that you're dead) that it almost sucks the enjoyment out of playing. The developers tossed in these side-missions and collectibles, but honestly doing them all and collecting them all with the atmosphere being what it is, I just wanted to get it over with. And that's another quibble. If you ignore the side-missions and collectibles, the game is more or less 3 hours long. I am not kidding. That is not worth the price of admission. For someone who genuinely likes adventure games and puzzle solving (and who even liked L.A. Noire until it got silly), this was a disappointment.

I can't recommend it. Interesting concept but terrible execution. Instead, if you like the premise of ghosts solving crimes, I would once again say give the Blackwell series of games a try. You can get them either on Steam or on GoG.com - much better.

#353

Oof, well maybe Shadows of Mordor will turn out to match the hype.

#354

I hope so. Personally I'm looking forward to the new Witcher myself. It's probably going to wreck my computer to bits (performance wise) but damnit, I plan to play the shit out of it.

#355

sinister:
You know better than that. Hype is NEVER lived up to. It wouldn't be "hype" if it were.

#356

Pitchguest wrote:Okay, so I finally got around to play Murdered: Soul Suspect myself. Verdict? Not good.

That's a shame. I've heard some good things about The Vanishing of Ethan Carter though. I hope that's good, because that's a damn good title.

Sinister wrote:Oof, well maybe Shadows of Mordor will turn out to match the hype.

I'm there with you. Watching the Giant Bomb quick look last night was enough for me to pre-order it so that I can play it when it comes out here on Friday. It does seem like they've done something which goes beyond adding shinier graphics.

And it was pretty fun, in the video I watched, when he tried taking on one of the warchiefs. He already knew there would be two bodyguards there (since he hadn't killed them beforehand). What he hadn't counted on was about six other captains also being at the location at the same time, just by chance. The ensuing chaos was quite entertaining.

#357

Shadow of Mordor is on the way. Has anyone clocked any time yet?

#358

I've been playing Banished lately. Where men and women are truly equal and the dirty old man down the road has shacked up with a 14 year old. A simple game but very addictive. Available on steam

#359

Got to play some Shadow of Mordor over the weekend. Damn good game. Not being terribly good at video games it took two or three hours for me to get the hang of things to the point where I wasn't killed with embarrassing frequency. But after that... wow. I can see myself playing this game for quite a while. I keep going off on side missions and chasing collectibles. And there's something immensely satisfying about coming upon a group of orcs walking in a row, and picking them off one by one from behind.

The map is fairly small for an open world game, but rather than feeling cramped they've managed to make the world feel dense. No matter where you go, there's something going on. It's downright weird how a game almost entirely populated by fantasy monsters feels more believable than, say, a GTA game. And thanks to the density, you find yourself in lots of interesting situations. Such as attacking a random orc only to find out that whoops, that was a captain, and now you have a whole different kind of fight on your hands.

Even dying isn't as frustrating as it can be in other games. Usually you die because you got careless and/or got in over your head. And since they have made dying such an integral part of the mechanics of the game, it still feels like progress of a kind. You do gain a bit of power every time you die, and if it was an orc that killed you it will also gain in power and possibly get promoted. Hunting down and finally killing an orc that has eluded or killed you several times is immensely satisfying. Especially as they do have different personalities. You know you're playing a good game when you can pick out one particular orc by sight.

And I'm only five (out of twenty) story missions in. I haven't even gotten close to the actual goals of the game. I've had too much fun messing with the mechanics and enjoying the world.

#360

TedDahlberg wrote:Got to play some Shadow of Mordor over the weekend. Damn good game. Not being terribly good at video games it took two or three hours for me to get the hang of things to the point where I wasn't killed with embarrassing frequency. But after that... wow. I can see myself playing this game for quite a while. I keep going off on side missions and chasing collectibles. And there's something immensely satisfying about coming upon a group of orcs walking in a row, and picking them off one by one from behind.

The map is fairly small for an open world game, but rather than feeling cramped they've managed to make the world feel dense. No matter where you go, there's something going on. It's downright weird how a game almost entirely populated by fantasy monsters feels more believable than, say, a GTA game. And thanks to the density, you find yourself in lots of interesting situations. Such as attacking a random orc only to find out that whoops, that was a captain, and now you have a whole different kind of fight on your hands.

Even dying isn't as frustrating as it can be in other games. Usually you die because you got careless and/or got in over your head. And since they have made dying such an integral part of the mechanics of the game, it still feels like progress of a kind. You do gain a bit of power every time you die, and if it was an orc that killed you it will also gain in power and possibly get promoted. Hunting down and finally killing an orc that has eluded or killed you several times is immensely satisfying. Especially as they do have different personalities. You know you're playing a good game when you can pick out one particular orc by sight.

And I'm only five (out of twenty) story missions in. I haven't even gotten close to the actual goals of the game. I've had too much fun messing with the mechanics and enjoying the world.

Goals? There are goals? I can't stop trying my hand at taking out whole armies! I am 1 story mission in and on third tier powers. :lol: I blame ADHD.