What are you currently playing? 4.0

[Foggle]

Just finished Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The final level was pretty lame, but that aside, it was amazing. You can definitely tell that some parts near the end were rushed due to Eidos' lacking time and money, but overall it was a worthy successor to the original Deus Ex and by far the best game I've played this year (and one of the best of all time, too!).

[Spark Of Spirit]

Galaga Legions DX is pretty and insane. I'ma get the full version once I finish paying off my books and Dark Precure.

3rd Strike Online Edition has a decent demo. But I'm gonna pass on the full version because I have the Anniversary Edition that didn't add ugly sidebars, pointless in-match achievements, even worse online netplay, and gutted in-game DLC. Why is it that SFxT looks good when all of Capcom's fighting game entries recently have been utter shit?

Yeah, I'm thinking I'm glad I passed on Third Strike and the MK Kollection. Too much botching of simple things, and I'm being more frugal with my purchasing habits now.

Though if Guardian Heroes is out this Wednesday, I'm jumping on it, no question. My Treasure love will never die.

[gunswordfist]

Treasure rocks.

I played the part on Gears Of War right before you go see the stranded or whatever the fuck that camp of bums is called up until the ending on Sunday. Man, that game is short. Then we played the first level and some of the second on Hardcore yesterday.

[Commode]

I remembered Star Fox 64 3D came out today, only after seeing it at K-Mart, so I bought it.  To be honest, I've never played this game before, it was just one of those N64 games I never got around to.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I remembered Star Fox 64 3D came out today, only after seeing it at K-Mart, so I bought it.  To be honest, I've never played this game before, it was just one of those N64 games I never got around to.

IMO, it's one of the best N64 games. I plan on getting that eventually, purely because of how awesome the original version is.

[Avaitor]

The game has amazing replay value. Unless this remake blows, you won't regret your purchase.

[Daxdiv]

I think I'll just ask someone to gift Star Fox 64 3D to me for my birthday. I try my best to not buy video games and stuff near my birthday since I can just get them from other people.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Splatterhouse.

Fun beat em up, decent story, and kick ass soundtrack (outside of the licensed stuff) leads this to be quite a little gem. The sidescrolling platforming was a pleasant surprise and definitely helped to break up the combat before it got stale. If you can give this a try, I recommend it, but if you don't like beat em ups (like I said before, more emphasis on timing hits and knowing enemy positions) you probably won't be won over. If you like them, however, I can't really imagine you not liking this even a bit. It's pretty challenging and you'll probably die quite a bit, but the game is fun enough to keep pushing yourself through.

Plus, Rick is voiced by Josh Keaton and the Terror Mask is voiced by Jim Cummings. So you know the voice work is gold.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Josh Keaton is the guy who did the voice of Ryu Hayabusa in Ninja Gaiden II (and of course he's mostly known for doing Peter Parker/Spider-Man in TSSM). Jim Cummings is the guy we all know as Winnie the Pooh (in this game he plays the role of a psychotic spirit inhabiting a mask and spewing out the word "fuck" in every other line).

The story is actually really entertaining in a very Evil Dead 2 sort of way, IMO. I haven't played too much of the game, but from what I did play of it the gameplay was fun, if a bit shallow and mindless, but then again this isn't the type of game that you play if you want a deep combat system and such. Its there if you want to literally rip monsters to pieces with all sorts of glorified gore effects. I think that the game has some issues which can make it feel a bit frustrating at times, especially during the side-scrolling segments, but the overall package is still a fairly fun game. Much like Duke Nukem Forever, I feel that critics went way too overboard with their harsh ratings for this game. It isn't nearly as bad as most reviews make it out to be.

This is one of the times where I agree with the Happy Video Game Nerd's review of something. Bottom line: its a very flawed game but there's a lot of fun to be had if you can look past those flaws.

Anyways, as far as my gaming experiences are going, I finally caved in and got RE4HD (despite the fact that it still looks like its in SD but just in widescreen format) only because 2 of my friends both strongly recommended that I get it when I asked if it was worth getting (on the basis that I have never played it before and have no other console to own it on). One of them in particular ended up bugging me to get it, actually.

I'm not very far into the game (I only played the first 2 sections and now I'm just at the beginning of 1-3), but I've played a bit over an hour's worth of the game so here are my initial impressions of it so far:

The first thing that hit me are the controls. They aren't bad or anything, but I have to admit that I've been spoiled by so many modern TPS games that it took me some time to adjust to them (hell, I'm STILL trying to adjust to the controls). While I don't mind having to stand still while I aim, I'm still not quite used to having to aim with only 1 analogue stick (once again, I'm too used to playing Gears of War and other games that use the more common aiming control scheme). I've started to get better at doing this, though. I also notice that the game tries to add in an element of realism by having Leon's hands move a bit so you can't ever center and lock onto anything (which is OK, though, because it works well with the way that the gameplay has been set up for this game).

I do like that the story seems fairly self-contained (at least so far). I mean, there are clear references to previous games, but for the most part it seems to be focusing on its own story that newcomers can follow well enough (I won't be surprised if that changes later on, though).

The graphics also look really damn good for a game from the last-gen consoles (and once again keeping in mind that Capcom really didn't do anything to improve the visuals besides formatting them to fit on an HDTV display), with this easily being one of the best looking games on any of the last-gen consoles.

One thing I dislike is that there doesn't seem to be any way to quick-swap between any of your weapons and items (you always have to access the pause menu to switch stuff up or use any items). I guess you could say that I'm a bit too spoiled by modern shooters, but its just that I feel that it kind of slows down the pace of the game. That's really my only complaint about it so far, and its a fairly minor one in the grand scheme of things.

I don't have a lot of time to play since I'll be spending most of my time this weekend studying for upcoming exams and such, but I'll still be progressing through the game at a steady pace and may occasionally update my thoughts on it.

[Foggle]

Hell yeah, man... glad you finally got a chance to play RE 4! By far one of my favorite games of all time (but not the PC version ).

Fun fact! In either level 1-2 or 1-3, there's a section where you can duck behind cover and then pop out to shoot. As far as I know, this was the first game to sport such a cover system (even if it was only used once).

I mean, there are clear references to previous games, but for the most part it seems to be focusing on its own story that newcomers can follow well enough (I won't be surprised if that changes later on, though).

It really doesn't, which made many diehard fanboys of the older games angry. They can be safely ignored by any person who values their sanity, though.

The graphics also look really damn good for a game from the last-gen consoles (and once again keeping in mind that Capcom really didn't do anything to improve the visuals besides formatting them to fit on an HDTV display), with this easily being one of the best looking games on any of the last-gen consoles.

The PS2 version was kind of muddy due to the limitations of that particular console while the PC version looks like total shit because it is one of the worst ports in history, but it still looks damn good and the GameCube and Wii, too. Definitely a AAA experience in the graphics department.

One thing I dislike is that there doesn't seem to be any way to quick-swap between any of your weapons and items (you always have to access the pause menu to switch stuff up or use any items). I guess you could say that I'm a bit too spoiled by modern shooters, but its just that I feel that it kind of slows down the pace of the game. That's really my only complaint about it so far, and its a fairly minor one in the grand scheme of things.

I actually like that a lot, but that's because 4 wasn't my first Resident Evil. I also liked how in the GameCube and PS2 versions (and presumably in the PC one as well, assuming you can even get to the fucking inventory screen) you could reload from the menu like in the PS1 games. This was removed from the Wii (and probably the 360/PS3) version(s), though.

I don't have a lot of time to play since I'll be spending most of my time this weekend studying for upcoming exams and such, but I'll still be progressing through the game at a steady pace and may occasionally update my thoughts on it.

Your first run could easily take you more than 20 hours. It's a long game, especially for its genre.

Don't forget to play Separate Ways once you finish the main game! It's not quite as memorable as Leon's story, but certain parts are damn cool.

[talonmalon333]

Ah. So you've finally developed some taste in video games, Ensatsu-ken!

The first thing that hit me are the controls. They aren't bad or anything, but I have to admit that I've been spoiled by so many modern TPS games that it took me some time to adjust to them (hell, I'm STILL trying to adjust to the controls). While I don't mind having to stand still while I aim, I'm still not quite used to having to aim with only 1 analogue stick (once again, I'm too used to playing Gears of War and other games that use the more common aiming control scheme). I've started to get better at doing this, though. I also notice that the game tries to add in an element of realism by having Leon's hands move a bit so you can't ever center and lock onto anything (which is OK, though, because it works well with the way that the gameplay has been set up for this game).

That makes sense. Personally though, I have no problem with 'em. They make sense in the context of a survival horror game.

The graphics also look really damn good for a game from the last-gen consoles (and once again keeping in mind that Capcom really didn't do anything to improve the visuals besides formatting them to fit on an HDTV display), with this easily being one of the best looking games on any of the last-gen consoles.

Easily the best GC game if you ask me. And honestly, I think the graphics STILL hold up to this day, which is a huge surprise.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh yeah, I can definitely see this game lasting me a long time on my first run through, especially since I'm the type of gamer who takes his time exploring every inch of the game that I possibly can when I first play through it. In RE4 I immediately bought a treasure map the first chance I got, since I knew that its usefulness would be a great investment for me. Up until now I've been going out of my way to track down every single piece of treasure in the game.

I hear that later on you have to protect the President's daughter for a portion of the game. If that's ANYTHING like having Sheva as an AI partner in RE5, than I will sincerely be dreading that part. It shouldn't be too bad if she just automatically stays behind Leon all of the time, though. The only other thing I kind of dread in this game is when I'll inevitably have to fight the dogs/wolves. If they are anything like they have been in RE5 or even the previous RE games (yes, I have played portions of other RE games before, so its not like this is my first general experience with an RE game in general), than I'm pretty much going to be fucked when I have to start fighting them.

Other than that, though, this game is certainly a lot of fun. It has a nice atmosphere, too. The atmosphere itself lends itself well to the horror genre, but the game's more action-based focus makes it so that you don't really get a chance to feel the serene creepy nature of the atmosphere, so I suppose that's why it doesn't really succeed at being scary (save for maybe a couple of jump scares scattered throughout the entire game).

I do like how this game, like the previous RE games, has an interconnected level design so you go back and forth through various areas in the game rather than go through a linear level to level path. Also, because you can explore areas and go back to previous areas to get treasures that you either missed or couldn't get to before, it reminds me a lot of playing NGB, in that respect. I also like how both games can last you a long time on your first run through but how you can speed-run through both of them if you wish to on subsequent play-throughs. I was disappointed when I realized that RE5 abandoned that style of level design (I was thinking of buying it at one point in time until I heard that its completely linear).

Oh, and yeah, I can pretty much confirm that you can't reload from the menu in this version of the game (I tried it). To be honest, though, I find that to be a good thing since it forces you to have to reload in the heat of battle, causing for some really intense moments and situations that almost make up for this game's lack of scares, IMO.

Anyways, last night I went up all the way through the battle with the Del Lagos (I also got an achievement for "shooting the water"). After I finish studying tonight, I may play some more of the game. One thing that a friend of mine told me is that I shouldn't upgrade any of my weapons until I get to the castle later on in the game, since that's apparently when the merchant sells you the best guns of each type (also, he said that you don't really even need to upgrade your weapons at earlier points in the game, anyways).

[talonmalon333]

If I can recommend: Keep the shotgun even when you get to that castle. They offer you a better version, but it's only slightly better, is expensive, and upgrades cost more. So if you upgrade the shotgun even a little bit by the time you get there, it will ALREADY probably be better and less expensive. In the long run it will be a great decision.

[gunswordfist]

I still have to play RE4 myself.

[talonmalon333]

I'm not totally sure what I like better between RE4 and RE5. I've heard arguments for, and I can probably agree, that RE4 is the BETTER GAME. However, RE5 is just fun to turn off your mind to and blow things away.