Posts by ReNo

  • What Games are you playing?

    Project Zero 3 (Fatal Frame 3 in some places) hit the shops today, so as a fan of the series I picked it up. Played it for a few hours tonight, and so far my thoughts...

    - It's (at least initially) harder than both of the others, but my experience with the series means that doesn't really mean much this early on.

    - Not as scary, but again, most likely due to my experience. They still get me every now and then with some sneaky scare tactics. VERY sneaky when you think about how they scared you afterwards too - those guys know the tricks!

    - Best story so far, and it ties together the first two games and more quite nicely. In the second game there was the slightest of links, but this one is teeming with them.

    - Very inspired by Silent Hill 4: The Room.

    - They've made the ghosts appear far more "solid" when really close to you, but still plenty ethereal when distant. This makes for some awesome up close shots.

    - Entire game system is still in its archaic form - fixed point camera angles are really beginning to grate now and controls aren't wonderful.

    All in all, it's probably the best in the series judging by the first few hours. My only concern is that the series isn't developing in terms of gameplay; it's just becoming more refined in terms of storytelling and presentation. The camera based combat system is still pretty exciting though

    GAME also had a deal on preowned titles - selected titles at 2 for £5 - so I picked up Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter for the Xbox, and Extreme-G Racing Association for PS2. Not that I hugely cared about either, but at 2 for £5 you might as well! Unfortunately when I got home I found that XGRA actually had the XG3 disk and manual inside...which sucked considering I already own XG3 for the Gamecube Back to the shop it goes to be replaced by...who knows.

  • F.E.A.R. 2

    What Tequila said. FEAR and Halo 1/2 are two of the most interesting FPS's from a combat standpoint in my opinion, but the repetitive level design is certainly a valid complaint in both cases.

  • What Games are you playing?

    Psychonauts, We Love Katamari, and Shadow of the Colossus just made it out over here, so obviously those Katamari is my flatmate's and I've only played it a few times, but it's pure happiness compressed into a funky little game and I'm definately gonna play it more. Psychonauts I played a lot for a few days, and then remembered I've got a shit load of uni work to do so put it to one side for finishing some other time. SoTC I completed in just a couple of sittings, but my god was it worth it. Next up is Project Zero 3 which is out next friday; love that series. It's proving a good start to the year for the UK games market, though mostly due to us getting some pretty nasty delayed launches

  • totally random texture thread

    Yeah it's an awesome design Peri. Is the fade from bright to dark as you go from top to bottom meant to be baked in lighting, or discolouring of the actual surface? Would be neat to have this as a bottom layer version for floor height, then more consistantly brightness version for vertical stacking should the situation call for it. Totally agree with Philip that this is begging for a normal map

  • Trackmania Nations - get your track creation on.

    Any PSP owners played Gripshift? It's a similar game, complete with track creation tools, and is really cool if you can get used to the car physics. It's very floaty, and the cars turn a bit wierd, but I love it. The game really encourages you to devise shortcuts and explore, which sets it apart from pretty much every other driving game. It actually describes itself as a puzzle/platform/driving game, which pretty much nails it to be honest. It's one of those hugely underplayed PSP games that is ACTUALLY unique and not some cheap port or lazy spin off. I wish companies would make more like this, but I think it sold horribly so what are the chances?

    I've never played trackmania in any form, though was tempted to pick up sunrise, so might give this a shot some time. I used to play an old PC game at a mates hosue called "4D Driving" (I think anyway) that looked extremely similar, but this was something we launched from DOS, so obviously it wasn't quite to this standard

  • Ok, now I'm really thinking about leaving this country

    In Scotland you just get little kids shouting abuse at you, drunkards aiming bottles at your head, and uninvited guests stealing antique chairs from your parties. As much as I like to bitch about the place, things like this make me realise just how lucky I am. Best of luck getting out of there mate; you've got the skills to make it happen so just give it your all I guess!

  • Hey ginsengavenger:

    Not that amazing, given that I spotted a few other well known names in there Here's lookin' at you, Mino and Mazemaster!

    On a different topic, that thread is a great example of how pompous and dismissive some people can be in the modding community. The map wasn't very interesting or impressive but it was a good start, and should have been treated as such. Instead it got a load of off hand remarks and insults. At least Mazemaster stuck up for it. What gloriously useful feedback eh?

  • Aftermath: April 24th

    "Episode One" clarifies that it is episodic, but at the same time, feels wierd as it suggests it is the start of something while really a whole lot too place already. "Aftermath" suggests the opposite - that it is the end - which in my opinion makes it sound anything BUT episodic!