The Gaming Week thread

[Cyberpunk]

Just the usual for me. A bit of Black Ops, a bit of Forza 3. I've dabbled with Dragon Age 2 this week, but not done anything seriously.

I got Shift 2 Unleashed this week, on the Tesco trade in deal, and put a couple of hours into it so far. So far its a really nice racer, with good handling physics, and great graphics. The new 'Helmet Cam' view is not as strange as you might think.

[Hendo]

The past week I've been continually picking up 2 games on my phone - Tiny Wings and Disc Drivin'.

The latter I've already gone on about (little MFG scoreboard is going though, currently waiting on Marky Mark dragging his heels) so Tiny Wings is one of those score attack games where you will play the same game over and over again and get a little bit further each time, but this is mixed up with sets of 3 challenges at a time that encourage you to play the game differently and also (apparently this is true, haven't noticed any real differences myself) the islands are designed differently each day, so days are better than others for doing certain challenges. The gameplay itself is a one button game where you press on the screen to make the bird heavier and let go to make it lighter - doing that up and down hills makes for momentum that will propel you through the levels. It kind of reminds me of Tony Hawks when spending a lot of time on the ramps.

Played a bit more Torchlight - I'm struggling to be arsed even though it's an addictive game while you play it, but I have little motivation to go back to it when I'm not. It is a bit samey.

XBLA sale on so I bought a couple of things.

I went to buy Deadliest Warrior but it turned out I had already bought it which was a bit shocking.

The game's not great, but it's enjoyable enough - it's a 3D fighting game where you play as a sterotypical warrior from many times and cultures and murder the others in a one-on-one best of 3. It has both a ninja and a pirate.

Bought Comic Jumper and put a few hours into it. As a game it's ok, nothing as well designed as Splosion Man, but it's very funny which keeps me playing it.

Mostly, I've been playing Call of Duty : Black Ops and finally got my first prestige, which means I got reset all my gear to zero and had to start from scratch. Didn't take me long to get my stuff back though. I would've prestiged a lot sooner but I've been enjoying the wager matches so much and you don't earn XP in those.

[dante76]

I've been playing Call of Duty: World at War, well to be honest playing isn't quite the word I'm looking for. Lucking through and swearing would be more to the point.

There's so much wrong that I don't know where to begin....

Um the AI: All Banzai attacker move on rails towards me and no-one else, bypassing the other 6 members of my squad who are nearer. I had grenade spam. Spam isn't the right word. More like physics bending. I've been in corner, and the only way for a grenade to land on me would be to walk up and give to me by hand. I've seen enemy AI shoot in one direction whilst throwing a grenade at me. The flaw of spawning enemies vs playing motivation leads to a run blindly into cover, hope, repeat, hope for checkpoint. I've seen Germans spawn in front of me. I've seen AI shoot at the floor whilst Japanese troops attack me. I've emptied an entire clip into some ones head (hitmarkers and all), for them to just shoot me through scenery. Its so bad that to get through most of the lvls you have to spend the time crawling and throwing grenades back.

Oh, and on a historical note, by the time the russians were deep in berlin, the German troops were ill equipped and unskilled. Not the marksmen Treyarch make them out to be.

The music is some bizarre techno classic tune. Like communist rave music.

Well done all round. You've replaced skill with luck.

Cocks.

P.S.

Driv3r was better.

[Sly Reflex]

[HandsomeDead]

I'm right near the end of Okamiden. It sort of runs out of steam towards the end, early on it seems to be an admirable follow up to Okami but then spirals into a mere good game. It's still a good game it just has the misfortune of being Okami's follow up.

I've played The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask some more, too. I've just got the Goron mask, this game really is made of win. I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as OoT but here I am getting sucked in 10 years after it came out, that must count for something.

I booted up Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition today, too. It might come with time but at the moment I'm not getting on with these acclaimed controls, I've died an embarrassing amount of times. Time will tell.

[Craymen Edge]

I'd been in a bit of a gaming lull for a couple of weeks, but a combination of having last week off and the release of Portal 2 meant I got a lot of gaming done.

I completed the last 3 or 4 chapters of Ghost Trick : Phantom Detective (DS), which was great and makes me want a new Ace Attorney game.

I completed Portal on PC and 360, and Portal 2 (PS3)

I put in a hefty session and completed world 2 of A Boy and His Blob (Wii) in a single sitting. I really like this game, and need to put more time into my Wii games backlog. I just keep forgetting the machine when it comes to deciding what to play.

All the Portal goodness put me in a Valve kind of mood, so I fired up Half Life 2 (PC) at the weekend. I completed all the Half Life 2 stuff on 360 when the Orange Box came out.

It looks and plays fantastic on the PC. On the 360 the airboat section gave me a bit of motion sickness, but the ability to increase the FOV on the PC meant I had no problems with it at all this time.

[Hendo]

Loads of stuff been played this week.

Get the obvious out of the way. Portal 2 has been exceptional so far. They've really pushed what the original did in terms of gameplay, story, setting and characters and has been dead funny most of the way through.

Call of Duty : Black Ops as usual, as my normal go-to game of choice. I tend to flit between brainless team deathmatch with the sound off or playing one of the wager matches where tension and sound goes back up.

Finally got my virtual hands on the Gears of War 3 beta and it's great fun as expected though that sawn-off shotgun really is a beast. A shame I'm rubbish with it though.

Played a little of Fancy Pants Adventures though not much more than the trial lasted for, probably should've waited for the inevitable sale before I bought it. It's good though, a cross between Sonic and N+ though the controls aren't as tight as they are for N+.

As usual loads of stuff on me phone.

Disc Drivin' is the game I still play every day. Some of my favourite gaming moments have come from this game and unfortunately they have now been lost forever due to there not being an upload feature for the replays which is pretty much the only thing the game is lacking. Or maybe a track editor, but what do you want for a couple of quid?

Prose With Bros is the latest turn-based online game and is a big list of random words that you and your opponent have and you both have to knock together some poetry (or filth, in my case) and the world at large votes on them. Some people try to make serious poetry but it's very hard not to just descend into the gutter when you have words like "growler", "sniff", "donkey", "pleasure" and "whipped" popping up all the time.

Superbrothers : Sword & Sworcery EP came out for the smaller iOS devices and it seems pretty good from what I've played but it is perhaps a little too pretentious.

One of my favourites though has been Dungeon Hunter 2 which is a shameless Diablo rip-off by the kings of rip-off, Gameloft.

It has some problems with lag, bugs, people walking on the spot when they're looking at their inventory but me and a mate have been co-op'ing it in his house and when we finished it we both just immediately started it back up on Hard (you keep all your stuff, level cap is 100 - we got to about 40!).

The main issue with it is that there is no form of communication in the game so if you're playing online, you're just best to do your own thing and not worry about anyone else, just brute force it, basically.

However, I'd go as far to say that it's a better game at it's core than Torchlight. The dungeon's have more variety in them and one level in particular had a different gameplay mechanic going on, same as the first Gears of War, stay in the moving light, don't go in the dark. It might've been straight out of Diablo but it felt pretty fresh at the time to me.

Also the inventory and stats screens are far better than Torchlight and pretty easy for someone like me to understand.

You have to use a virtual stick and buttons which are often the work of the devil, but I really enjoyed it.

[HandsomeDead]

I'm getting annoyed. Job searching, OU work and chasing some bird has really eaten into my gaming time so it's not that different to the last time I posted. But here it is anyway.

I've played Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition mostly. I didn't get along with the controls at first, I do now but I don't think it's the revolution that some go by, in fact I hate the QTEs more this time round, the actions they make you do never fit in the waggling you're doing, it's horrible. But I am appreciating it more for its pacing and variety these days, it's an excellent action game that does exhilaration and tensity brilliantly. Bloody loving it all over again when it isn't throwing flashing button commands at me.

I'm also slowly working my way through The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. I am starting to have a problem with the passing of time. I don't like feeling rushed, the snow temple I did I was so close to warping back to the start of the game again. I like to wander, explore and take my time in these games and that timer does feel like a poke in the small of my back all the time. It's an interesting concept but I'm unsure if I like it or not, I hate deadlines.

finally I've played Doom II some. This game has really weird level design, I though it would just be a corridor shooter but it has some twisted corridors; still good fun, though. Loving the music.

[HandsomeDead]

I'm still making my way through LoZ: Majora's Mask. I'm in a ghost town after the fourth mask, I'm reminded how much I hate those screamy, freezy zombie guys.

I got some cheap Ninty points that Ed posted about and got And Yet It Moves and Bit. Trip Flux. I'm not in a very masochistic mood so I'm leaving Flux for now, despite it having checkpoints like Runner it's still pretty devious like Beat. All my being will have to go into that one. AYIM is proving to be a great puzzler, looking forward to playing that more.

I was maybe a quarter the way through Klonoa 2 and I put it on and didn't turn it off until I saw the credits. Great game, better than the first, more imagination in the puzzles this time. I think a new one would maybe do well in today's downloadable climate. I'd been working through Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat and finished it the same day, properly bonkers and properly awesome at the same time.

I also started Yakuza 4 but I'm gonna leave that until the summer. Oh, and I've been dabbling in Banjo Kazooie to carry on the character based platformer obsession I seem to have at the moment.

[illdog]

Ive been going through some old games on my 360 that i only dabbled in in the past. I havent wanted to start a new game as LA Noire will be here soon.

Started with Devil May Cry 4, i was only halfway through Devil Hunter Mode so i wanted to finish it off. My utter lack of skill made it very difficult but i eventually did it and i think i might be getting the hang of it.

Next i went back to Unreal Tournament 3. I still had unfinished Campaign missions to do and actually still do but im not sure i can be bothered to finish it off. Its extremely repetative you see, either frag the enemy untill its spawners deplete, capture the flag or defend/destroy the node. Its fun for 10 games but not 50 plus.

Boom Boom Rocket has been sat on my gamercard with 75 points on it for years, so i sat down and made it my mission to get at least one more achievement done, which i did. Unlock all the fireworks, which meant becoming proficient enough on Hard difficulty to hit most of the notes. It was indeed hard.

And now im on Pure again which unlike the previous games i'd done alot off. But the things left to do had always bugged me so it always felt unfinished. The problem with going back to any old game is that you have to teach yourself to play again, thats been the same with all the above. Really enjoyed it though.

[HandsomeDead]

Just gonna hip thrust this thread up a bit.

I've been playing loads but I just want to draw attention to a few titles. First off, Shadow Complex. I don't know why I started playing it again but I did. I started a new game on the hardest setting and it's shit; I don't know how they expect people to progress on this difficulty. It's too random; the shifts in perspective fuck up your aim in intense fire fights and cover obly sort of works. That's fine when you can take loads of bullets like on normal but when it just takes a few bursts of fire to deplete all your health (I do have all the energy tanks you can find to this point) then what's the point? Al the tricky parts I've done have just been down to pure luck. I'm not a fan of games that require nothing but persistence, it's fucking bollocks.

I've also come back to Fallout: New Vegas. I think I'm doing it wrong; all the side-quests I have lead me into a quest I have no chance of surviving. Everywhere seems to lead to a place that will end up in my death. I can't even walk the wasteland as the Legion will roll up all full of impenetrable armour and fuck my shit up. I've took a wrong turn somewhere.

The game is broken as fuck, too. It's frozen on me loads. it didn't when I first got it but now it does; I blame the updates!

[Sly Reflex]

I played Gears of War and Gears of War 2 back to back last night. With mighty Mika, King of Norway. Took us about 10 hours.They both still hold up, graphically amazing too, to say Gears 1 is 5 years old, it still looks better than most games released today on the platform.

[radiofloyd]

Love this thread, why did it stop?

In recent weeks i've hammered the hell out of Super Hexagon. I've started Dear Esther and have also been flirting with some old rpgs, it looks like Divine Divinity is the one I might focus on for a while.

[regemond]

I'm flitting between a few trying to find something that will keep my interest.

Tried Metal Gear Solid and apparently I'm awful at games because I've never played this and I'm finding it really difficult to get to grips with. Just beat some guy in a tank and now I'm trying to find my way through some gas filled corridor.

Went back to Mortal Kombat on Vita for a few hours. I've never dipped into story or Arcade, so just carried on with the challenge tower. I'm now stuck on a ridiculous challenge where I lose my abilities over time (I think I'm playing as Quan Chi in this one) and can't do it. I almost threw the Vita at the wall because of it!!

Also tried Dragon's Dogma - I thought it was a good idea to change my class to warrior but then found out I don't have enough money for a Warrior weapon and cant use my old one. So I'm not going back to it

Finally, I constantly dip in and out of The Simpsons Tapped Out - I know how bad this game is but it's so addictive.

[Craymen Edge]

Love this thread, why did it stop?

It got resurrected for 2013 recently. Can't remember where it is now though.

[HandsomeDead]

I've tried finding this thread a few times before but I just couldn't remember what it's called for the search.

I've been playing Guacamelee! and I'm coming to an end; at least the end of the story, but I think I'll go and try and 100% it. It's pretty good and I'll start a thread sometime. It's recommended, I'll say that for now.

I've also been playing Okami HD a bit. It wasn't that long ago I finished it on the PS2... maybe the end of 2011. But I thought I'd give it a look again since it's free on the old PS+ right now and I'm finding myself playing it a lot. The first few hours are a trudge but once I got through that it turned into that cool hang-out game everyone who played it knows and loves.

It really is a good looking game HD'd, I mean really good looking. I don't think it has had a lot of work done to it, I just think it upscales really well.

And of course the odd night not sleeping and playing Super Hexagon. I can progress like Floyd but I've added a few seconds to my best but I'll get higher; I will get higher.

[Craymen Edge]

I've tried finding this thread a few times before but I just couldn't remember what it's called for the search.

I resorted to searching for the year and hoping it appeared in the title.

2012's 'Almanac':

http://www.mfgamers.com/index.php?showtopic=39718

2013's 'Ledger':

http://www.mfgamers.com/index.php?showtopic=39728

I vote for 'Secret Diary' in 2014

[HandsomeDead]

A forum secret diary would be cool. We could get new accounts we use only in that thread.