What Are You Currently Playing? 6.65: Neighbor of the Beast

[Foggle]

Yeah, my dad played through that game and I helped him a bit. Standard gen shooter only since this was before the corridor/Modern Warfare aping it had a bit more ambition than most. And yes, the checkpoints were pretty bad.

I don't remember 2 being very good, but it's been a while.

The middle part of the game is legitimately great, but the rest is either boring or frustrating. I'm only playing 1 and 2 because the collection was the same price as R3 by itself, so I figured, why not? It's decent, but almost certainly my least favorite Insomniac game aside from A4O and FFA. Yes, I like it less than Fuse (which is actually pretty good, if generic). At least that game has amusing dialogue and an actual color palette.

I heard 2 is basically a CoD clone. If nothing else, that means it'll be easier and have better checkpoints...

[Foggle]

Okay, I don't know if I can beat this game. I'm on the second to last level now, and every enemy just tears through my health like tissue paper. I swear I'm dying in four hits to normal enemies, all of whom shoot extremely fast. Fuck this.

[gunswordfist]

And you still suck at console shooters.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Well it's not like he can rely on incredibly inventive tactics like waiting behind a rock for three seconds to regain all his health again in this game. He has to deal with cheap enemy design and find a way around it.

[gunswordfist]

Regenerative health rocks.

[Foggle]

So, of course, immediately after I go online to bitch about it, I beat the level easily without dying. Thanks internet!

And you still suck at console shooters.

Yes! And this one even has aim assist! (To be fair, though, I beat the final boss of Vanquish on my first try, which I hear is supposedly super difficult.)

Well it's not like he can rely on incredibly inventive tactics like waiting behind a rock for three seconds to regain all his health again in this game. He has to deal with cheap enemy design and find a way around it.

This game's health system is weird. It has four blocks, and each one regenerates on its own. If you lose a block, you have to use a health kit to get it back. I would have preferred either one or the other, because this is effectively the worst of both worlds rather than the best.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Well it's not like he can rely on incredibly inventive tactics like waiting behind a rock for three seconds to regain all his health again in this game. He has to deal with cheap enemy design and find a way around it.

This game's health system is weird. It has four blocks, and each one regenerates on its own. If you lose a block, you have to use a health kit to get it back. I would have preferred either one or the other, because this is effectively the worst of both worlds rather than the best.

Oh yes, I know of several games that have used it, I think they were all games from last gen, too. Never really understood the point. Either go all out and be DOOM with health or don't bother.

[gunswordfist]

Congrats on beating that level!

That health system sounds just like Butcher Bay's. I honestly thought that health system was decent. also, I think BulletStorm's was like that.

[Foggle]

Thank you. Yeah, Butcher Bay's was like that too. IMO it worked really well in that game since it was more stealth and melee-focused (not as easy to get instantly destroyed by gun-toting enemies) and because the healing machines could take you all the way back to full HP. It's not as good in an arcade shooter where there's but a single type of health pickup which gives you only one block back. Resistance would have greatly benefited from either going old-school with more HP and more traditional health kits or by following the trend of fully regenerating health.

Anyway, I beat the game! It was alright overall. I'm glad I played it since the middle portion was surprisingly excellent, but I'll probably never touch it again unless someone wants to play split-screen co-op with me. The last level wasn't too bad since it actually had good checkpoint placement for once. Unfortunately, the final boss was a *riveting* instance of "shoot the stationary glowing things." Lame. Hopefully I'll enjoy the sequels more.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I haven't played Resistance, but I've had my share of frustrating difficulty in a shooter with the first Gears of War on Hardcore difficulty. It was especially bad since almost everything was an insta-kill in the later acts of that game.

In terms of Vanquish's final boss, people usually refer to God Hard mode when they call him (them?) super difficult. I remember one of the walkthrough channels that I follow (where they play games on their hardest difficulty settings), just flat-out not being able to do it and giving up on finishing that guide (which he never did for anything else).

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh, and on the subject of health systems, I always liked how the first Halo and Reach both used a recharging shield and health packs.

[Foggle]

I haven't played Resistance, but I've had my share of frustrating difficulty in a shooter with the first Gears of War on Hardcore difficulty. It was especially bad since almost everything was an insta-kill in the later acts of that game.

To be fair, I'm not very good. I rarely ever play modern FPS that aren't intended as throwbacks to "the good old days," and I haven't played a console FPS in 3 years or so, so it's probably more that I wasn't used to the health system/movement speed/aiming/general tactics than anything. In all honesty, I probably should have played on easy mode, but it hurts my pride to do so. The checkpoints are seriously terrible, though.

In terms of Vanquish's final boss, people usually refer to God Hard mode when they call him (them?) super difficult. I remember one of the walkthrough channels that I follow (where they play games on their hardest difficulty settings), just flat-out not being able to do it and giving up on finishing that guide (which he never did for anything else).

I figured. That shit must be horrifying on God Hard.

Oh, and on the subject of health systems, I always liked how the first Halo and Reach both used a recharging shield and health packs.

That's the best health system. More games should use it. (Or they should let you carry health kits around, like in F.E.A.R.)

[gunswordfist]

I didn't know Reach had it as well. That's also probably my favorite.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

As far as FPS games go, I'm good with either recharging health that is accompanied by a health bar underneath (Halo/Reach), or where you have to replenish it via health kits, but only if they are plentifully scattered through levels. I also like the recharge station concept which is applied in the Half-Life and Jedi Knight games. And of course, being able to carry health kits like in F.E.A.R. or BioShock is great (or in the case of Max Payne, where painkillers are basically health packs, though that's a TPS).

While on the subject of health, I firmly believe that Ninja Gaiden 2 has the best health system in the entire hack n' slash genre. It's amazing how badly NG3 managed to take an already perfected concept and fuck it up so badly. It's worth mentioning that NGB also has a good health system, wherein if you are low on health, killing enemies without using UTs will greatly increase your chances of getting health drops from them.

[Foggle]

The healing system in Resistance is weird; it's like they couldn't decide whether they wanted to do medkits or regenerating health. Some levels have enough pickups to keep things moving at a fun and brisk pace, while others have almost none and seem to expect you to rely upon the extremely limited regeneration. Since the checkpoints are so far apart, these stages absolutely murder the pacing of the game, as you'll be forced to hide behind cover after being hit by just one or two bullets (fired at a fast pace with pinpoint accuracy). Thankfully, Resistance 2 goes all in on regenerating health, and R3 is medkits only.