Topics

46

Game Reviews / Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

« on: January 22, 2015, 10:16:23 AM »

So I finally got around to completing this game. It's Assassins Creed: Mordor Edition. Plainly there was very little in the way of game mechanics that wasn't lifted from any AC game from 2 onward. For those that have no interest in playing the game but are interested as to what the story entails I'll put that in a spoiler.

The game plays well, the combat flows nicely with animations hitting the intended target the vast majority of the time and sounding meaty when doing so. It sounds brilliant, the voice acting is some of the best I've heard and the choreography for the cinematics is fantastic. Its AC but it is definitely better than AC.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Celebrimbor the smith defied Sauron even as he helped forge the ring of power. Cel stole the ring just as it was finished and led and army of Orcs against Sauron using some sort of power that ins't really explained all that well. Anyway, he pretty much smashes Sauron and is just about to kill him or whatever you do to an evil Ainur when the ring slips from his finger and lands on Saurons. 10 points for guessing what happens next. After Cel is defeated, he's tied up and is forced to participate in a ritual whereby Sauron kills his wife and child and it locks Cels spirit in Mordor.

FF to when the game is set: You play as Talion, a Gondorian Ranger, one of the many atop the black gate. Orcs led by the Hand of Sauron (Saurons black Numenorian guards) take the black gate and perform the same ritual on Talion and his family. Talions body is still pretty much solid though so the wraith of Cel takes it. Talion is still in there so the two sort of live and act together. Que Orc killing rampage and revenge tale against the Hand. Its a decent story, fits well enough into LotR lore.

47

Game Reviews / Short review for Warhammer Quest

« on: January 10, 2015, 10:34:05 AM »

It's rubbish.

EDIT: It's rubbish because although the port is average (no pc features added but at least everything works) the combat which is the mainstay of the game is boring, no dice rolls are shown (unlike Blood Bowl) which causes the player to feel less involved in the game. The classes are nice and if you can get over the combat then the game will have tons of replayability but for me, it was just too boring despite my best intentions to like the game.

Other stuff:

No options/settings, micro-transaction model is a joke and deluxe edition is way overpriced.

3/10

48

General Gaming - The Arcade / Feminists call for Target to stop stocking GTA 5

« on: December 03, 2014, 05:22:32 PM »

https://www.change.org/p/target-withdraw-grand-theft-auto-5-this-sickening-game-encourages-players-to-commit-sexual-violence-and-kill-women

Even more stupid than usual this one.

49

Discussion and Debate - The Philosopher's Plaza / Israel/Palestine Murders 18 November

« on: November 19, 2014, 08:41:54 AM »

In Jerusalem portugaling Muslim bastards attacked my far flung Jewish brethren with axes and rifles while they were praying. Someone dare try and tell me now that Israelis aren't using measured force against them. Also the reason given for the attack was something to do with Orthodox Jews going to Temple Mount. portugal man, if they even knew anything about Judaism they'd know that we aren't even supposed to go there. Hell I could never go to anything other than the lowest reaches of it because I'm not ethnically Jewish.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/18/synagogue-murders-binyamin-netanyahu-despicable-murderers

50

Marvel/DC / X-Men

« on: October 28, 2014, 12:21:42 PM »

Just saw Days of Future Past, got to say that it was by far the best X-Men film. The scene with Pietro was a bit rubbish but the rest of the film was exceptional. 10/10 would watch again. Plus it retconned all the stupid ass mistakes they made in the first few x-men movies which I both loved and hated in equal measure.

51

Game Tutorials / Hearthstone Tutorials

« on: October 17, 2014, 06:31:32 PM »

Hearthstone is a free Blizzard ccg with (as with all Blizzard games) simple to understand mechanics with a higher skill cap than meets the eye. There is a singleplayer mode to get you familiar with the game but the real hook is the 20 million other players you can face in (relatively) troll-free ladder and casual play. The ranking system is easy to understand with ranks ranging from 25-1 and then Legend rank after that where the best players each have a position on their server (EU, Asia, US North, US South I think).

The format for playing cards is that you get one mana per turn. i.e on turn 1 you get 1, turn 2 you get 2, 3, 3 etc. Each card costs a mana amount roughly equal to its power. Minions get attack and health shown as */* e.g. a yeti is 4/5 for 4 mana, a razorfen raptor is 3/2 for 2 mana. Each deck consists of 30 cards, no more, no less.

I'm not amazing at the game by any means but I do regularly pop into the top 25% of players if only for a short while.

I'll write a couple of pieces on the basics and maybe one on Arena gameplay and a couple on deck builds.

52

Mount and Blade Discussion - Sargoth Town Square / Properly New Mount and Blade Warband!

« on: October 17, 2014, 12:51:49 AM »

http://www.pcgamer.com/mount-blade-warband-expansion-announced/?ns_campaign=article-feed&ns_mchannel=ref&ns_source=steam&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0

Being made by successful mod team behind Brytenwalda, this new DLC 'Viking Conquest' features, as one might expect, Vikings. As we all know, everything from childrens' birthday parties to pillaging monasteries are better with vikings and so this game should be M&B Warband: Better Edition.

53

Star Wars / The Prequels

« on: October 16, 2014, 12:44:32 PM »

Things you like, hated, cliches, characters ruined, characters expanded etc.

For me, the two stand out performances were Ian McDiarmid and Ewan McGregor. McDiarmid just was awesome no matter what he was doing even if he did suffer from the plague that infected all the movies which is terrible dialogue, to see him charm and deceive his way through the first two movies and then explode into this psychotic master sith was epic. McGregor I thought played Obi Wan pretty much exactly as Alec Guinness played him, clam and reserved but unafraid to take action. Which I believe is a huge credit to the actor.

Just my two cents.

54

Game Reviews / Colonial Whatnot and Cannibalism.

« on: September 22, 2014, 05:08:42 PM »

Look what we have here, a classic British past time of invading lands, planting flags and shooting natives! That's right, a colonisation game where your objective is to build a successful colony, keep it fed and defend it from heathen savages. Developed by Gameslamp Inc who created the well received Dungeons of Dredmor, this should at least be worth a look. It is still early access but they have some videos out and info on the website.

Gameplay consists of the standard fare 'Theme Park World' approach with a great dash of dry,dark humour and a large helping of 'Britishness'. A wide range of things can happen to your unlucky colonists. Disease, death by native, death by accidental misfire, death by eating raw food, insect swarms, death by fish-men, death by fish, death by fellow colonist. The last one brings us to the starvation mechanic. If you decide not to/forget to feed your colonists, they can go insane through hunger and murder one of the others before eating their corpse. It's all lighthearted with very pleasing aesthetics, a very tongue in cheek game (more so if you go the cannibalism route).

http://store.steampowered.com/app/224740

55

Star Wars / Ask a Star Wars Question

« on: September 18, 2014, 07:12:48 AM »

Ask anything Star Wars, I'll answer it either from movies, tv series, EU (the good kind of EU, Expanded Universe) comics or games that have been made canon. Although when the 7th movie is released, most EU will be retconned.

The topic will probably have lots of spoilers in.

My most powerful Jedi/Sith Rankings:

1. Luke Skywalker
2. Jacen Solo
3. Emperor Palpatine
4. Cade Skywalker
5. Exar Kun

Vader would be somewhere like 10/12th.

56

Mount and Blade Discussion - Sargoth Town Square / New Mount and Blade...Ish

« on: September 12, 2014, 10:48:20 AM »

Basically a pirates version of M&B Warband. Not reviewing it as I'm not so much a fan of the game but I know a lot of you are. Still early access btw, which is a disgusting practice about at the same level as necrophilia.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/293010.

57

Game Reviews / The Elder Scrolls: Online

« on: April 08, 2014, 08:56:44 PM »

First, a little background is needed for such an anticipated game. It's the 7th game in the Elder Scrolls series set 1000 years before the recent Bethesda release: Skyrim (6th in series). The reason I say Bethesda is because while, yes, Zenimax who have made ESO are a part of Bethesda, it's a different team working on the game. And this really, really shows.

From the chatter I've heard people were expecting Skyrim: Online instead. I knew from the outset that this would be impossible, you can't have the fidelity and precision like Skyrim in an MMO environment, it's just not possible to do while catering to as many potential players as possible. Not to say that this is necessarily a bad thing, there have been many pretty games that have lacked all kinds of depth and actual content which ESO definitely has...In spades.

Graphically, the game is okay....Which will disappoint a lot of people I feel. It looks and feels like a highly tuned Morrowind (the fourth game in the series). It takes a couple of seconds to find mods for that game from 2004 which transform it into looking very presentable as opposed to the blocky, untextured mess that the vanilla game is.

Story-wise, the narrative looks pretty solid (there are a few inconsistencies, but that's only to be expected with such a huge project, and they may resolve themselves anyway as this is a prequel) with excellent voice acting (Dumbledore gives you your first quest) and interesting characters. The premise is that the Emperor is dead (recurring theme, much? (See Elder Scrolls III, IV, V)) and three factions have their claimant vying against the other two for the throne.

Well I thought I'd split the review in half, first addressing the MMO aspects of it then the RPG and perhaps tying them together at the end.

First of all, most importantly, does it fit the role of an RPG?

Most assuredly yes. Character customisation is phenomenal, I would say it's a lot better than even Skyrim. There is freedom of choice, although some of that has been limited due to technical restraints of being an MMO and some of the setting (There are 3 races per faction, which to be makes limited sense). Like the traditional Elder Scrolls games, you create a nameless adventurer who brings about ruination/redemption/freedom/peace or other such abstract concepts to a period of fictional time. Unlike previous titles, there is a class system. You can, however accomplish this any way you want, there are no race/class restrictions and if you want you can go ahead and be a light armour wearing Templar who wields magic staves.

The combat is a lot different from Skyrim. It's less meaty and brutal, weapons feel a little 'floaty' which in my opinion means not as good. Also, instead of moving in different directions to use melee abilities, they are now disappointingly hotkeyed numbers 1-6 a la: any WoW clone MMO.

There is a very nice system in place whereby the more you battle for your faction, the closer they become to placing their choice of candidate upon the throne, in the days/months/years to come, battles will be fought over strategic locations across the servers and the world will change accordingly. To me this is an amazing feature, one which to memory was only implemented by the ultimately unsuccessful Matrix: Online to great effect. I sincerely hope that this, if nothing else, will cause the game to hold onto its fans and create the first WoW killer MMO.

Right now, key requisites for a subs based MMO are:

a) It's massive
b) It's multiplayer
c) It's worthy of a subscription

ESO checks the second box easily, but the other two? I'm not 100% sure.

The world of Tamriel that series lovers will have seen is huge. Morrowind was simply massive especially for its time, Oblivion was easily large enough for the cosmopolitan heartland it was representing and Skyrim has to date some of the best open world gameplay available. ESO therefore has a lot to live up to. Stros M'kai is a location familiar in name to veterans of the series and it happens to be one of the first locations for one of the three factions. The pirate island is absolutely tiny. I walked from one end to the other without the use of sprint in roughly four minutes. Other locations I can't really comment on yet as this is the first place I've really been to but, to me, this sets a bad precedent.

Multiplayer hasn't been attempted in an Elder Scrolls game by developers before and I know why: I don't want my Freja Ironhand, icy swordmaiden clashing swords with an Orc named Hugh'Gh Pehnes. It just kills any immersion that this game desperately tries to build. I think that had they released this as a single player game it would have sold just as well if not better (in terms of units shipped, not profit made) and the game could have been updated through steam or something with however the battles (as a multiplayer separate feature) progress.

Worthy of a subscription? Well I can only assume yes, although I'm not too sure. I have no buyers remorse from my acquisition, the game is in truth incredibly fun. If the price was perhaps just the subscription I paid and not the cost of the box as well I'd whole heartedly say yes but then again I just paid £50 for the privilege of installing ESO and am none too impressed with that aspect.

Rob

TL/DR: If you still believe Morrowind is the best Elder Scrolls to date: This game will blow you away... If you're okay with other people being in the world.

P.S Might update this later.

58

Finished/Dead Mafias and RPGs / Chapter 1: The White Bishop

« on: March 26, 2014, 10:52:29 PM »

A cart trundled along an uneven path, trepidatiously, towards a lonely hill. As it neared the former Knight Ser Graves peered out from underneath the hood of his cloak. The day is pleasant, he mused, a fitting time and an even more fitting place. Even with what might be the last rays of sunshine ever to caress his face, his eyes remained dull and he coughed hard enough to suck the breath out of him. The cells had not been kind and he shook with a fever, not that it mattered much now.

The Orc that was to be his executioner remained silent, although it was unlike the Orcs that Ser Graves had met for *it* to be quiet and pensive, let alone reverence for the soon to be dead.


In the town of Halfway-Goldmark a spectacle rode through the streets with a body large enough to be a Minotaur dragged behind him, wrapped in cheap linen, patches of dark red showed every now and then as the body rolled. "Hearken and watch fellows, gentle-sers, gentle-dames!" A man in a beaten leather duster and cloak shouted as he approached the market. "I have here the notorious Giant of Cradlerock! Brought to you by myself, Prior Edgar Valt"

The people of Halfway-Goldmark knew the man as a fake, a liar and a cheat. However even the mention of the potential capture of this giant had gathered a crowd large enough to fill the tavern....Which had just emptied to bear witness.

"Follow me good people of the mark, see the giant unveiled!" The grey mare trudged onwards, painfully aware of the cargo she was unwittingly transporting but as always she knew that there would be respite at the end of the town, by the Abbey.

As Edgar neared the Abbey, the Abbot in full ceremonial chain mail, mitre and mace stepped from the heavy wooden double doors, arms outstretched in greeting to this unwelcome member of the clergy. "Ah Edgar, what have you here today? Holy tears of the first Merfolk? Perhaps the Bishop-Generals undergarments?"
"Wry as ever, Ser Abbot. I claim the bounty of one Giant of Cradlerock." And with that he dismounted and tore off the hood from the body still on the floor. The gasps within the crowd were audible as was one mad cackle coming from somewhere belly-height. The general perception from the crowd was of disbelief, not in a hundred years was Prior Edgar Valt capable of defeating the local fool, let alone a giant.

Each of you feel there is something strange about this day. Something will change, you are sure of it, but what are you going to do?

59

Finished/Dead Mafias and RPGs / RPG (OOC)

« on: March 24, 2014, 12:39:46 AM »

I'll be writing an RPG for anyone who is interested, 4 players would be ideal, although more or less I can accommodate for. It'll start on 1st April. Anyone can join, however if you miss 3 days or more you do run the risk of being killed by anything I can think of (you can start a new character to meet interact with the party still alive though )

Char Sheet:

28 points to spend. 4 + racial is generally the average for any race, but feel free to stack all points in Strength or something. Min is 1 in each. I use SPECIAL system because it's easy to work with and gives me something to roll against easily. Just post your attributes and race if you'd like to join plus whatever your character is carrying at the time of joining the adventure and where you'd like to start, pub, training grounds, lord's palace, kitchen etc. If you feel like writing a backstory, go for it, make up names for places etc, I'll incorporate anything you add. This RPG is going to be told as much by me as it is by you, first time I've tried anything like this, hope it goes well

Strength

Perception

Endurance

Charisma

Intelligence

Agility

Luck

Human (+1 Per, +2 Charisma, +1 Endurance)
Orc (+2 Strength, +1 Agility, +1 Perception)
Minotaur (+2 Strength, +2 Endurance)
Elf (+2 int, +1 Charisma, +1 Agility)
Dwarf (+2 Endurance, +1 Perception, +1 Luck)
Merfolk (-1 Charisma, +2 Luck, +2 Agility, +1 Endurance)

The plan is that each stat will feature as much as the others, so there is no 'right' stat to build.... Also if you all pick strength, I'll make you all take intelligence and charisma tests

I've started writing an outline of what will happen, I hope a few of you join this. I'll update as quickly as I can, with the person with highest posts being 'most chatty' and vice versa. Hell if DD (for example) only appears once a week when there is a big fight going on I could make him a spirit of protection or something for another character...I'll be going with the flow on this but I'm hoping my quick thinking will be able to carry it

60

Game Reviews / Expeditions: Conquistador

« on: March 18, 2014, 11:38:57 PM »

I picked this up on the steam sale for £4.49 today not expecting too much even though it is in the same style as Blackguards which I enjoyed and which I'll be comparing it with sometimes (see Blackguards review ).

The game is in the style of an old school RPG with hex-grid-turn-based combat (HGTBC for short...probably)  but is set in the early 16th C when the Conquistadors land in the New World having established a small colony in Hispaniola. At first I was hesitant about the location and time period as I can't recall any game being set there other than the worst part of the Kingdoms expansion for Total War: Medieval 2. I'm about 20 minutes in so far so I'll update the review as I play more of it.

You spend about half the time looking top down onto an avatar which represents your merry (or not if morale is bad ) band of Spaniards roaming around a Native Island with a few Spanish settlements and ports dotted around and the other half either in dialogue which is well written and as entertaining to read as a good book/comic/magazine, or in the aforementioned HGTBC which is very tactical and (for me at least) challenging without giving you the sense that any battle is hopeless.

Character creation is fairly limited for an RPG, although I didn't spend much time there I think the choice was male or female, plus a few attribute points which drive the game. From here you hire a party of adventurers to accompany you on your mission which honestly I'm not sure what it actually is yet. These adventurers are split into 5 classes: Soldier (heavy melee and ranged combatant but very slow), Scout  (high damage melee combat and quick but low health), Hunter (high ranged damage but low health and no melee skills), Doctor (Take a wild guess ) and Scholars who have the most non combat related skills and is perhaps the most interesting.

Skills. Each follower boosts your attributes and has their own set which they use to perform a variety of tasks from guarding the camp at night to understanding the native speech and some are naturally better than others at these tasks, having a good mix might yield the best results or it may leave the party unspecialised, I'm none too sure .

These followers play a very active role in the dialogue, each one will react differently to events as they have traits visible on the hiring screen such as 'Cautious', 'Narcissistic' and 'Racist'. So far I think each of them has had something to say or an event happen around them which I've been able to influence or deal with, it's a very detailed system and works beautifully.

The art is nice and very much the same style as Blackguards but with a lighter colour pallete, the music sets the tone very well and even though there is no voice acting (as far as I've got anyway) I don't think it detracts from the experience at all.

For fans of Blackguards, Fallout series, X:Com.

Screenshots in spoiler.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)