Posts by Thrik

Hahaha that RPS article is excellent.

To be honest if I hadn't played it before I wouldn't touch HL1 in this day and age. It was amazing in its day, but it does truly look like ass now. I couldn't possibly criticise someone who missed HL1 for not wanting to go back to it, however I thoroughly encourage them to pick up BM:S assuming it does the game justice.

Kind of like Metal Gear Solid. Absolutely legendary game, but I just can't handle playing a game where the characters' entire faces are like one polygon and the individual pixels of the textures are a square inch big — and I wouldn't expect anyone else to either. I'd say forget about it suggest people pick up the remake for the GameCube and/or hang on for its hopeful re-release on PSN, because playing such a badly aged original would probably sully their opinion of the game.

Finally got Alan Wake finished. I think it's a fantastic game overall, absolute must-play IMO.

Admittedly it does get a little tiresome at times which is why it's taken me so long to finish, mostly because the regular grunt enemies don't change much throughout the game beyond getting bigger weapons. However this is kind of endemic of survival horror and is easily dealt with by playing the game in shorter bursts rather than trying to plough through the whole thing at once, and also set-pieces are happening all the time which vary things up nicely. If you give it the time to take you through to its conclusion though, the story is a real thriller and the atmosphere it builds up is unparalleled in gaming. I wouldn't say it's a scary game, but it does build up an extremely dark and foreboding feel. You feel like you're trapped there with Wake in this insane world of darkness.

Some parts are just so cool. In part because of the engine's amazing ability to display huge vistas without missing a beat, and in part because the stuff that's happening is awesome. What is basically a giant version of Lost's smoke monster rips apart dams, throws ships at you, takes over gigantic tractors, and all sorts of other insane stuff. The fact that your enemy throughout the game is a mysterious, invisible force makes things very interesting. On a technical level the visual and sound production during these parts is incredible, from the way an entire building will smash apart to the way girders are ripped from bridges and flung at you from the skies, hitting the ground like arrows.

There aren't many games that actually tackle the kind of rural forest county environment Alan Wake takes place in, but it absolutely pulls it off to perfection. It's not open world, but you can tell the engine was originally designed for it because it's just so beautiful. Add to that very good, original gameplay (the light-based way of attacking enemies is fantastic), a gripping story that is clearly from the minds of Max Payne, and excellent cinematic presentation and you've got a very satisfied Thrik.

Warhead is good, I enjoyed it a lot. Gives you the opportunity to further experience Crysis 1's wonderful tropical backdrop without doing stuff you've done before.

Any and all flaming will end now please. The alternative:

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Good to hear BM:S is still under development. It's a shame that it no longer has the graphical wow factor because unfortunately I've been completely spoiled by newer engines, but I'm sure I'll love experiencing HL1 in a way that's enjoyable for the eyes (unlike the original which sits on the wrong side of the 'too primitive-looking to enjoy' line IMO).

Any recommendation about what difficulty to use as someone who was pretty good at Crysis 1? If it is relatively short and kind of easy to exploit at times I'd like to make sure I have a good challenge, although not one that's fun-ruiningly hard.

Strange. I can see the logic behind hiding the advanced stuff and primarily using pre-sets, but taking out all ability to manipulate advanced shit via GUI is blatantly going to be an annoyance for enthusiasts, particularly with the platform fragmentation of the PC meaning a single advanced setting can make a big difference depending on your hardware — certainly was the case with Crysis 1.

Does Crysis 2 not have proper configuration of graphics settings in the GUI then?

I think nowadays it's safe to assume that unless you literally took a screenshot yourself it's staged.

Haha. Well I stand by my opinion: I really like the physics in LBP. Obviously those same physics in a game like Donkey Kong Country or Super Mario World (closest runners up IMO) would be ridiculous, but in LBP's world of physics-orientated puzzles and projectile weapons they work perfectly. The level design in LBP and particularly LBP2 is mindblowing, and just wouldn't work with a heavier physics model. Maybe the first world or so would, but not beyond that.

Looks ACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No I agree, I'm glad they're taking the time to get DNF right. So many games are put out in a hurry these days and I think Duke Nukem of all games deserves a little more time than most games.

lol

It must be my lack of Eastern blood but I don't actually get that response at all.

I have to say that Epic's almost monochromatic approach to art direction doesn't do much much for me. Admittedly they were kind of the first to do it and it was a signature look for the Gears of War games (okay, and UT3), but aesthetically I'm just not keen. I'll take the vibrant colours and contrasts of Uncharted 2 any day.

Gears of War 3 does look like an improvement. It retains its signature monochromatic look in part, but there's shots of colour in there that make it more artistically desirable. This is a good balance IMO because it is the GoW style, just like certain directors and musicians have their own trademarks. It just wasn't pulled off anywhere nearly as well in GoW3's predecessors IMO.

I guess one problem is because GoW was so successful loads of people started aping what has since been called the 'brown' look, so people have become incredibly tired of it. Now that colour's started to make a resurgence (what a weird thing to say) it's rather refreshing.

Hah yes Mazzle, it's interesting how back then those shots literally blew my mind, whereas now they just look normal/expected.

I recall UT3 having the same nonsense. Game looked absolutely disgusting on the PC even when maxed out IMO.

Quote from Warby

its of course subjective but id say so !

I'm a web designer (been at the place 4.5 years), although these days I seem to spend just as much time working on video/audio production. Fairly fun place, even if many clients are rather boringly commercial.

Oh they're all quick and dirty Photoshops, we did them on each other — only given less than an hour a piece so they're not magazine standard. Just going to be chucked on walls here and there around the office to freak clients out. They all have different themes too, I did my neighbour as a Mexican't.

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