[Game] The "what are you currently playing?" thread #2

[dogbadger]

But you loved it, right? I know I did.

yeah of course - i had a workmate who moved out to Norway to join innerloop to help make that game too so i had an extra interest.
Back in my childhood, it wasn't unusual to have to restart entire games when you died - in fact i remember one game you had to completely re-load from cassette when your game was over.

Put DR down for now cos i want to play through far cry 2 - which isn't bad but i can already tell is going to need more variety to carry it through.
Feels a bit like borderlands.
And why no lean?

 

[DraKon2k]

Need some advice: What PS3 games are good to play with friends besides Fifa 11? I'd think of a racing game and a shooter, but can't really think of anything appropriate.

 

[Murphy]

Borderlands?

yeah of course - i had a workmate who moved out to Norway to join innerloop to help make that game too so i had an extra interest.

Wow.
:IS2:

 

[TAW_Cutthroat]

Need some advice: What PS3 games are good to play with friends besides Fifa 11? I'd think of a racing game and a shooter, but can't really think of anything appropriate.

The Uncharted games and GTA IV are always fun when you're playing with friends (and without them, too).

I dusted off my PS3 last weekend and started playing through the Uncharted 2 story again - I can't wait for the next game!

 

[DraKon2k]

I meant games where other people can actively take part aka splitscreen multiplayer. For now I ordered Blur(only saw positive reviews and it's supposed to be a mature mario kart, which should be great for drinking nights) as well as MW2 because I got it for 20

 

[TAW_Cutthroat]

I think splitscreen is dying out in favor of co-op via the internet - afterall, I'd rather play with a friend and have the whole screen to myself than have to share it.

I found this (slightly old) video with some good suggestions:

PS3's Best Split Screen Games - YouTube

 

[Lt_Kettch]

I meant games where other people can actively take part aka splitscreen multiplayer. For now I ordered Blur(only saw positive reviews and it's supposed to be a mature mario kart, which should be great for drinking nights) as well as MW2 because I got it for 20

 

[DraKon2k]

PS3 games as I described above

 

[Nenjin]

I think splitscreen is dying out in favor of co-op via the internet - afterall, I'd rather play with a friend and have the whole screen to myself than have to share it.

I have to disagree on this one. It's not dying out; it was killed off by console manufacturers who stopped supporting split screen gameplay because it produced more console sales. A friend and I have been co-op buddies on console since the late 90s, and we've always been on the look out for new co-op games to rent on the weekend to kill some time. And with only a few exceptions, most games that offer co-op do it only through system link now. The ones that still offer split screen are generally the ones with a long history of SS co-op.

Sorry, but this has been a sore spot for me for years. There are plenty of people who still enjoy co-op from the couch but developers won't support it much anymore.

 

[Murphy]

Ya, I'm with Nenjin on this one. If you want "the full screen for yourself" this doesn't really concern you and it's not much of a reason for splitscreen to die because you probably wanted it before too. This is the second generation of consoles that offer online multiplayer after all. If this was the beginning of the first you'd have a point. Online multiplayer did kill splitscreen to a degree, but what survived of it this long should survive some longer because it's what I like.

I think the biggest problem these days is that games are made to push the limits of the hardware and running the game twice or more on the same console, as you would have to in splitscreen, is a problem with the already limited RAM, even if you reduce the details for splitscreen.
Epic already said they want/need more RAM from the next generation of consoles and we'll see how they'll fare in that department. If the ram is ample we might see a bit of a resurgence of splitscreen games.

I'd certainly appreciate it, even if I don't know if I'm going to be on board with another generation of consoles again.

 

[Nenjin]

I think the biggest problem these days is that games are made to push the limits of the hardware and running the game twice or more on the same console, as you would have to in splitscreen, is a problem with the already limited RAM, even if you reduce the details for splitscreen.

I don't think this is the case. Halo 2, Halo 3 iirc? CoD since CoD: WaW (online, to boot.) Kane and Lynch, Army of Two, Gears of War 1 & 2, Dynasty Warriors anything, various racing games....(did I mention we've trolled the video stores for years looking for good co-op titles? )

I don't think the issue is technology. All of the visuals, draw distances, effects, sprites, everything can be scaled. It's a matter of if developers want to do that to their game's visual fidelity for the sake of split screen. And then, if they do, whether or not it's worth the pay off or conflicts with some internal decision to not support it for the sake of pushing online co-op. I think many people would settle for less graphically intensive games if they would actually include splitscreen and perhaps even maybe build a decent game around it, rather than slapping it on as an addendum to single player.

I think co-op split screen has basically been relegated to the Wii and "poor man's gaming." Because all the major developers are focused on everyone having a high speed internet connection, a giant flat screen running in 1080p (ever play a 360 game on a **** tv? Heh.) and plenty of cash to buy multiple consoles and copies of titles. That's who they're developing for. Not friends who just want to sit down and blast stuff in each other's physical presence. Only fighting games by definition still give a crap about face-to-face gaming, and even they are trying to push people into playing over networks.

So like, my primary motivation for getting a laptop is so I don't have to haul my PC over to a friend's house to LAN game. That's how far consoles have gone from their roots, when it's almost more practical to buy a portable PC to get to the same place.

 

[Demogorgon]

here's a quote from david jaffe recently on twitter regarding the new twisted metal..

"Been doing lots of split screen tuning on the new Twisted Metal. Reminds me how much fun and how cool split screen local gaming still is!", "I know it's all about online these days but man, something so fun about battling your buddies on the same couch."

we used to play golden eye with 4 players on a tv smaller than 1/4 of the tvs these days! and we loved it!

 

[Flogger23m]

How many games offer split screen and online play at the same time?

Sorry, but this has been a sore spot for me for years. There are plenty of people who still enjoy co-op from the couch but developers won't support it much anymore.

Not surprising. Essentially two people used to play one copy of a game. Without split screen, if you want to play with your friends/family you need a another console and another copy another copy of the game. As a result I am sure many more households now have more than one console and duplicate copies of games.

 

[Nenjin]

How many games offer split screen and online play at the same time?

Not very many. IIRC, MW2 allows for split-screen online play.

Not surprising. Essentially two people used to play one copy of a game. Without split screen, if you want to play with your friends/family you need a another console and another copy another copy of the game. As a result I am sure many more households now have more than one console and duplicate copies of games.

They've essentially priced live co-op out of the reach of a lot of people. And I don't know about you guys, but my parents were barely willing to shill out enough for one Nintendo back in the day. A family that buys not one, but TWO 360s, TWO sets of peripherals, TWO copies of a game and has TWO HD tvs to play them...I don't think they represent the majority of the market. They may make up its biggest spenders, but I don't think its realistic for a lot of people...especially right now.

 

[DiedTrying]

Been playing football manger 2011 and Terraria

 

[illinifan]

ro
tf2
mount and blade warband (sick game, an ASOIAF mod would be absolutely PERFECT for this game)

 

[DraKon2k]

Just finished Heavy Rain. What an awesome game! Immediately bought the HR Chronicles for 3,99

 

[Flogger23m]

Nothing. Reinstalling all of my games. Trying to remap all of my keys in FC2 because exporting and then importing the control layout only works for half of the buttons. This is the 3rd time this month I've spent remapping the same damn buttons.

Eastern European dev studios have great concepts for making games, but their execution is always sub par. Lock On, IL-2, the STALKER series, ect. They're all riddled with bugs. The sad thing is that western dev studios don't seem to make any decent games these days so we don't have many choices...

 

[Chainkiller]

RO1 and KF. Still addicting as ****.

 

[Murphy]

Outland
Got the Launchpad skill now. I love this game so far!

Oldschool, but very polished. It has a light Super Metroidish exploration aspect but the world isn't as open as in Super Metroid. You have one hub world from which you can enter the other worlds, if you have the necessary abilities to get to the entrances. In these worlds you are then guided by a light/shadow-swarm-thing that occasionally appears where you need to go so it's more or less a linear affair, but you are encouraged to stray from this linear path and explore the worlds for secrets and doubloons.

What's surprising is how every jump you think is possible IS possible.
No guesswork involved at all. That alone places it above certain other jump'n'runs.

The big thing here is that most of the enemies and obstacles you encounter are either blue or red and you can switch your character to be either blue or red instantly at the press of a button. Enemies can always hit you but you can only harm them if you're the opposing color. Energy (there are many turrets that fire patterns of energy bullets and some enemies have ranged attacks that consist of energy beams and bullets too) can only harm you if it's the other color.
There are even moving platforms that only move when you're the same color as they are while you're standing on them and other platforms or walls only become opaque and thus interactable when you switch to their color.
It's a pretty cool mechanic and it seems like they really made something out of it. It's not just a tacked on gimmick but it's an integral part of the game and it makes for pretty fun scenarios.

Oh yeah, and there are bosses and they are of the oldschool puzzle-action type. Meaning you have to figure out how they work and then there is still action involved in actually beating them. In short, the best kind of bosses.
And the ones I've seen so far have been incredible.

Imho the game doesn't have to hide from the classics. It's not a second Super Metroid, but what is, really... but it's certainly up there with the likes of Abe's Oddyssey.