General Gaming Thread

[EWB's Best Poster.]

I am so not buying that.

"We decided to lock them at the same specs to avoid all the debates and stuff," Pontbriand says. Most games in the new console generation hit 1080p, though the PS4 has more consistently supported higher resolutions and frame rates than the Xbox One, and that has been a point of contention for some players. Others see the entire debate as "a PR differentiation."

"misinterpret" my ass.

We decided to lock them all to the same specs to avoid debates is the original statement, that is horrid backpedaling.

[Dan]

[TCO]

I heard there was a difference in both consoles abilities to run at 1080p but to deliberately scale down the PS4 version, then essentially come out and admit is stupid on many levels.

Considering Black Flag ran at a higher rate on PS4 than XBO pretty much proves that statement was full of bullshit too. He's just added serious fuel to Sony fanboys' fire!

[peteypirahna]

Why the heck would anyone buy a Ubisoft game in the year 2014 after what they did with watch_dogs, Assassins Creed and Rayman?

[apsham]

Oh yeah man, those Assassin's Creed and Rayman games were fucking horrible.

Jesus christ.

Keep that Kotaku bullshit somewhere else.

[King Ellis]

The only backlash I ever heard over Rayman was the way they threw the Wii U under the bus by holding back the already complete Legends to put it on other systems. Otherwise, heard nothing but good things about it. Assasin's Creed is more a case of 'do we need like 5 of these things in a calendar year' than being bad and Watch Dogs seems to have been a victim of it's own hype but it otherwise fairly solid.

[Draevyn]

Assassin's Creed to me has been the same thing since game one. I wanted to like it but by the time I got through the first and half way through the second I just couldn't play any more despite having all of them.

[Benji]

The AC games are very samey, but it's a sameness I enjoy and don't really get from any other game series with the exception of PoP, which for some reason Ubisoft has abandoned, so I got no issues. If Pokémon, CoD and others can repeat the same formula then AC can too.

[apsham]

Either way - thinking that I am going to give Alien Isolation a shot tonight. EB has a thing on their platinum cards that essentially means you can return a game within 7 days if it isn't up to standard for you for full money. So if I don't see any longevity, I can just put it towards the next big purchase.

[apsham]

Fuck this game, fuck this game, fuck this game. Seriously fuck this game. Met the alien for the first time and although I am sure I was in no danger, seriously fuck this game. Holy shit.

[Whisper]

Does anyone have/is anyone getting Alien: Isolation? Will likely be picking up a new game this weekend and I'm utterly torn between Shadow of Mordor, Alien: Isolation, Destiny and Diablo 3.

I know I would enjoy all of them for different reasons, and will likely own them all at some point. The only thing that puts me off Destiny is the reviews of the end game being lacking, and Diablo I have played before on PC, though think I would prefer it on a console.

Ideally, I'd like a game with some longevity about it but SoM has amazing reviews and Alien: Isolation looks right up my alley. As a fan of suspense creating games (silent hill, the original dead space etc), I think I would love it. But when it's going to set me back the best part of £50 I would like to be relatively sure that I'm getting my moneys worth beforehand.

Edit - I should really read posts that are LITERALLY RIGHT ABOVE MINE. Clearly Apsham has it, worth my dosh?

Edited October 8, 2014 by Whisper in the Wind

[lanky316]

I've got Alien and have enjoyed it so far even though I've barely encountered the xenomorph. The scene setting has been great and I'm on edge waiting for trouble at almost every turn. Fair few tricks of the light and little "did I see that" moments. The sound has been great as well, every now and then it seems to build and I find myself instinctively running for cover just in case this is it. Died a couple of times at the hands of other people on the Sevastopol so there goes that "get through the game without dying" trophy nice and early.

I've also found it easy to get lost and disorientated, the map will tell you where you need to go but not on what floor and how to get there. I spent ages trying to find an item in a small room before I remembered a door that hadn't opened earlier as I needed to turn on the power supply to the area then after sneaking through a few rooms I ended up finding the missing item, on the floor above. Once picking up the motion tracker it helps to direct you there but not used it in an area with multiple floors yet so don't know if it may send me to the right place but on the wrong level. I doubt it from early testing but we'll see.

Some of the lip synching is off when in play (seems fine in cut scenes), sounds coming out but mouths open and close seemingly at random. I'm also not sure on some of the NPC things, it seems that their more preprogrammed routines, "follow me" - leads Ripley to localtion, are little slower moving and they struggle with player position. I had one just walk straight into me (not through which was a good touch) and physically move me as I happened to be standing in front of where he needed to go rather than trying to go round me.

For me though yeah, early signs have been very good and it's been a good experience so far. I do foresee an awful lot of death but luckily (at the moment) the save consoles aren't too distant so in the event of a death I'm not going too far back. I've also found I'm conditioned to save every time, just to be sure. Although on a second play through it's highly doubtful I'll be that cautious obviously.

[apsham]

The level design and atmosphere in that game is amongst the best I've seen in a game - and it's the little things that matter to me. The movement feels like real movement, the looking around has the slightest of delays that just makes it feel right and the sound design.. holy shit the sound design.

But if you play this game, do yourself a favour and make sure you have your television set to the proper brightness and color levels and follow the gamma setting in the game because they have balanced the lighting better than I have ever seen in a game like this. Not only that, it's rare that the game wrests control of you and FORCES you to look at something. It might start you out where you're supposed to look and if you do that... you might see something and nearly shit your pants like I did.

The times when I'd stop moving and just listen were terrifying - every sound, every creak, every swinging light... man the detail they put in here. I work on stuff similar to this on a day to day basis and I know how hard it is to get right, and how rewarding it can be... especially when it's something that only the minority of people will take special note of.

I'm loving it so far - yet to see if it drops off after too many deaths - but I dropped down from Hard to Medium when I found I was getting enough out of the game without making the Alien even crazier to get away from.

[lanky316]

The level design and atmosphere in that game is amongst the best I've seen in a game - and it's the little things that matter to me. The movement feels like real movement, the looking around has the slightest of delays that just makes it feel right and the sound design.. holy shit the sound design.

But if you play this game, do yourself a favour and make sure you have your television set to the proper brightness and color levels and follow the gamma setting in the game because they have balanced the lighting better than I have ever seen in a game like this. Not only that, it's rare that the game wrests control of you and FORCES you to look at something. It might start you out where you're supposed to look and if you do that... you might see something and nearly shit your pants like I did.

They combine brilliantly, I was skirting a room to the outside where it was slightly brighter rather than burning up a flair or risking using up flashlight battery, heard a clatter, swung round to see if anything was following me then turn back and see a bin rolling away after I'd just kicked it over. As far as the movement goes, I was in baggage claims (early game - minor spoiler not story based but spoiler tagged for anyone avoiding information to go in as fresh as possible)

in the main room with lots of body bags across the floor. I decided to run straight across the middle after skirting through it once safely (yes, I know this is how it will get me later in the game) and noticed my movement was slowed down as I did so. I looked down to see what it was and noticed they'd programmed it so that Amanda would more or less tip toe over the corpses rather than run across them blindly and uncaring.

a really clever touch which brings your largely faceless character during gameplay sequences to life. Between that and Amanda making comments and audibly reacting to things help bring her to life. The number of times I've caught myself muttering for her to shut up because she's making too much noise for my comfort (I believe I read the game enhances sounds in tense moments deliberately). So on edge listening and watching for anything, real sounds in the room made me jump. I suspect playing with the PS4 camera or Kinect with noise recognition mode on will add so much to that tension. I'm on my own, the room is dark, I'm focusing on where the alien is and when I can leave this locker, trying to wait for a moment to make a move... Mrs knocks on the door after her late shift, game hears this and lures the alien to your position. *reloads*

[apsham]

Yeah - I won't be playing with the sound feature for sure. Too many times I had to yell at the cat for knocking stuff off my dresser in tense moments. But I might try the head tilting thing.. it seems natural and useful.

[Ruki]

https://www.origin.com/en-us/store/free-games/on-the-house?utm_medium=email&utm_source=arm&utm_campaign=origin-email-na-gem-arm-na-origin-oth-daorigins-oct14-&sourceid=origin-email-na-gem-arm-na-origin-oth-daorigins-oct14-

Dragon Age Origin for free.

[thatshortguy]

https://www.origin.com/en-us/store/free-games/on-the-house?utm_medium=email&utm_source=arm&utm_campaign=origin-email-na-gem-arm-na-origin-oth-daorigins-oct14-&sourceid=origin-email-na-gem-arm-na-origin-oth-daorigins-oct14-

Dragon Age Origin for free.

Nice. This will be my first foray into yon series. With the exception of Wing Commander, I've nabbed every game EA has made 'On the House'. Props to 'em for some solid choices.

[apsham]

I had a chance moment in Isolation tonight that gave me the heebie jeebies.

[Whisper]

So my birthday has brought me a £100 GAME gift card.

I'm still torn between Alien: Isolation, Destiny, Shadow of Mordor and Diablo - only now I can afford two of them. Since games cost so much these days I would like something with a bit of longevity/re-playability. For those that have played any/all of the above, where would you suggest my money is best invested?

[RoyWill Rumble]

I have by no means played all of the above, but I've read quite a few reviews/watched enough stuff/played bits and pieces/had friends play bits and pieces to form a pretty good first impression of those games.

Alien is basically out right away. It's a bit long for what it is to begin with, and to be reductive, you're being chased around by an alien for twenty hours. Regardless of whether you think it's effective/scary, it's not really replayable a second time.

Diablo is loot-driven and, well, Diablo. There's an assload of classes and if Diablo's your kinda thing then it's more Diablo and that's pretty rad. And I've heard the co-op is great. It's got an insane amount of replayability/longevity, but you have to be into Diablo.

Destiny is divisive, it seems. It's repetitive and can get monotonous, and eventually the single player side of things just kinda wears thin. If you like the general gameplay, though, and have enough friends to play with, you can probably look past the repetition and kinda bunk loot system.

Andddd Shadow of Mordor is basically made by the nemesis system and how willing you are to engage with it/really fool around. The combat is quite good, the story is eh, but the nemesis system just totally makes it.

I'd honestly say Shadow of Mordor and Diablo, but I can see the argument for Destiny. I very briefly played it, but just wasn't hooked by the gameplay, and from what I heard of the game's repitition, I wouldn't be able to deal with it. Again, though, if you do like Destiny's gameplay, I could see the appeal. Though one is an FPS and one is a dungeon crawler, to me, Diablo and Destiny are very similar games in the way you approach them: games you just kinda sit back and chill out with and futz around with trying to get rad loot. I think Diablo has a much more engaging and interesting loot system and a lot more engaging character customization. It is piss-easy, though, for the most part. Destiny has a bit more engaging gameplay, but the loot system and the repetitive missions put me off, personally.

I dunno if that helps, but I think the aims of Diablo and Destiny are quite similar, so I'd pick one of those two and go with Shadow of Mordor.