What are you playing now?

[Algor]

Started Singularity today after getting it some time late last year. The first hour has been pretty painful and its a real shame how much Call of Duty influence is in this game. I don't know if that came from Activision or what. So far it has been move through linear levels as Nolan North opens every door for you and tells you exactly what to do the entire time.

I actually cheered when he was killed in a cutscene.

It doesn't seem like he said anything original and just ran through the military stereotype textbook; "Keep your head on a swivel", "stay frosty", "we are oscar mike" blah blah. It's a strange choice to have note collectables and audiobooks that play on the spot. They both slow the pacing way down, especially when they are used as frequently as they are here (I recall now Dishonored uses this same system, even with the more text heavy books, but maybe they just have better writing, or the placement of the items is better). I also find it unnecessary there is so much interactable shit like typewriters and faucets, or why when I use a microphone it plays a prerecorded message? The weapons weren't very fun to use and didn't have good feedback so I just melee'd all the enemies until the soldiers showed up. I quit after running down a series of hallways where some chick kept screaming "left!", "faster!", and "right!" when it there were no other choices.

Then I started Far Cry 3 and I was really enjoying it. Characters were saying interesting and original dialogue that gave them... character. Mega points for not using Nolan North or any famous actors/actresses from what I could gather. The player is put in a simple scenario (escape from pirate camp) and is fun, tense, and provides a lot of moments to teach game mechanics or sell the fiction in a natural setting. The sandbox seems pretty cool and is expanded in a really slick way. Good move adding a simple incentive to climbing the radio towers on top of the Assassin's Creed model. I'm excited to play more!

Edit: What happens when you die in this game? I feel like I have crafted some items and bought the same skill points several times. Do some of these things reset on death or am I just getting a weird bug?

Edited March 12, 2013 by Algor

[Skacky]

Just finished S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat.

Too bad Pripyat itself isn't as interesting as the other areas, but one thing is sure:

Time to play Shadow of Chernobyl again!

[PogoP]

I started playing Call of Pripyat recently, too. I just got into Pripyat, haven't got much further yet though.

I couldn't help but feel it wasn't as good as SoC though... I'm playing the Complete mod, and it just feels a bit.. empty. I don't know, maybe I'm just viewing SoC through rose tinted glasses or something.

[D3ads]

I still have yet to play COP, and I've only finished SOC once so I should give that another run at some point...

[RedYager]

I still have yet to play COP, and I've only finished SOC once so I should give that another run at some point...

WHAT

[D3ads]

I still have yet to play COP, and I've only finished SOC once so I should give that another run at some point...

WHAT

I know I know, I'm a bad Russophile...

[Furyo]

Recently finished Hitman Absolution and slowly making my way through all the challenges I have left to unlock. I really loved the game despite some flaws in its missions during the second half of the game, where the game managed to forget all the tools a hitman usually would use only to get you through tedious spaces. When it shines, in the first half of the game, it really does though. I call this game the most underrated game of last year.

[Thrik]

Looking forward to getting Absolution. I'm a massive stealth game fan, and am currently working through Dishonored right after finishing Deus Ex: HR. I'm pretty much in gaming nirvana right now, only a new MGS coming out this year would complete the perfection.

[Skacky]

I started playing Call of Pripyat recently, too. I just got into Pripyat, haven't got much further yet though.

I couldn't help but feel it wasn't as good as SoC though... I'm playing the Complete mod, and it just feels a bit.. empty. I don't know, maybe I'm just viewing SoC through rose tinted glasses or something.

If Complete is the same deal as with SoC, it actually makes the game quite easier. I played CoP with AtmosFear 3 and Absolute Nature 3, and the rest was vanilla, and I found it amazing. The areas were all very well made and the random emissions were pretty scary, especially when you are looking for artifacts in the wilderness with no cover nearby.

I did run into quite a few bugs in the final stages of the game though, one would make the game always crash at some point, for example, but other than that nothing too serious.

I never played Clear Sky, so after I complete SoC again I'll give it a try.

Edited March 13, 2013 by Skacky

[PaulH]

Recently finished Hitman Absolution and slowly making my way through all the challenges I have left to unlock. I really loved the game despite some flaws in its missions during the second half of the game, where the game managed to forget all the tools a hitman usually would use only to get you through tedious spaces. When it shines, in the first half of the game, it really does though. I call this game the most underrated game of last year.

I still can't bring myself to finish this. I was really enjoying it for a while but then it descended into levels in generic factories and underground installations and I got a bit bored. It also seemed to become more about evaded enemies rather than giving you lots of different ways to kill them. The best level was the Chinatown one near the beginning where you just had a large open area, three targets and multiple ways to decide to deal with them. After that it went downhill

[RedYager]

I still have yet to play COP, and I've only finished SOC once so I should give that another run at some point...

WHAT

I know I know, I'm a bad Russophile...

My entire perception of you has been shattered.

I last played COP with the 'I work alone' mod, it was great, so many epic random moments, like a group of Duty and Freedom bumping into each other, aiming weapons at their faces, suddenly another group of Duty moves in and starts shooting everyone. With only a few survivors, a blood sucker comes in and kills the rest, leaving me with a shit load of loot.

Waiting for the next version of Misery to play again.

[Sentura]

i actually really liked COP, almost as much as SOC. i still have to play through CS but i simply have not had the time/inspiration to go through it.

personally i thought pripyat was very interesting as an environment, but the whole passage into it was the best. it's somewhere around 9.5/10 for me

[Taylor]

Trying to get back into Skullgirls now Squigly and Big Band have been funded by their indiegogo crowd-funding thingamajig. I actually haven’t been playing it since the patch which makes me a terrible person. From what I can gather Big Band is like Nrvnqsr Chaos only instead of opening up his flashers coat for shadow animals and tentacles it’s trombones and cornets. I approve of this.

If you think this was mainly about linking the indiegogo campaign rather than saying what I've been playing... you'd be right. Also, Heart of the Swarm, League of Legends, and Vergil's campaign in DmC.

Edited March 14, 2013 by Taylor

[Jetsetlemming]

Lots of modded Minecraft, on a custom server on "Hard" difficulty a guy I know runs. Minecraft with 60+ mods runs worse than any other game on my computer, just barely within the tolerable limits, and that's with Optifine and leaf transparency turned off. Still, worth it. Lots of fun to build machinery and explore and survive.

[Erratic]

God of War Ascension doing massive camera pull outs to show scenery while I completely lose track of Kratos in the middle of combat and die isn't cool.

Heart of the Swarm, second match, get zerg rushed. Oh yes. Perfect. But I forgot about strategy game matches that aren't 60 minutes long so suddenly losing isn't quite as terrible as I remember it. fuck u dota