The Gamer's Quarter

[dhex]

1) sin episodes, aside from being the impetus for an article for the next next issue ("crossing the boobicon") is a 7 out of 10 affair. i don't have that much faith in ritual (the developer) being able to bring something out for the next episode that would be worth 20 dollars.

2) shadowgrounds: ever wanted to play a top-down game that feels like syndicate + doom with guns? then this is your game. the controls are good and the graphics are pleasant. i think it's 25 bucks in stores as well. the demo is a lot of fun, and i might pick it up after i finish boiling point. (and after episode one comes out tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)


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[Shapermc]

That topdown stuff looks awesome.
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[Dracko]

I don't know. From the demo, it felt pretty derivative and standard fare.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[dessgeega]

[simplicio]

Can you hear it? That's the sound of the frothing!

[dhex]

the sound...of frothing...

well, yeah. valve and bethesda are the two companies i trust, sight unseen, to deliver quality awesomeness. and so i am genuinely excited.

which is the first step to disappointment, of course, but it's a chance i'm willing to take.

[Dracko]

I won't deny it was fun while it lasted, but the plot and characters really didn't help the experience. It was sort of embarassing, really, not to mention the uninspired alien critters.

I just don't see it having any lasting appeal, let alone see myself willing to shell out for it.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Roam Unit]

I... really didn't enjoy Shadowgrounds. Part of it was the random, severe slowdown that ocurred in certain areas, but for the most part, I just wasn't having any fun. I like myself some top-down shooting with RPG elements from time to time (see: crimsonland), but the game just didn't have enough personality for my tastes, I guess.

Sin, on the other hand, I had a lot of fun with, but that's probably because it's the first run-and-gun FPS I've played since Quake 2. I could do without the enormous cy-breasts, though. That, and the bizarrely sexual work outfits; was the thong underwear supposed to demonstrate her "loose cannon"-style disregard for dress codes, or what?

[dhex]

[Roam Unit]

Well, I've played Half Life 2, but I'm not sure I'd really classify it as a run-and-gun FPS. When I think of Half Life 2, I don't really remember much about the action sequences; they were there, and there were some guns, and that's about it. It seemed more like it was focusing on physics-based puzzles and storytelling more than on exciting shooter sequences, which is pretty far removed from Sin's sort of "headshot headshot headshot HEAVY GUNNER BRIGADE" style of gameplay. When I think of Sin: Emergence, I think mostly of the big action sequence with the destructable cubicle walls and the scads of heavy gunners, but when I think of HL2, I remember building a ramp using random debris in the highway level, and not so much the action sequences.

[Dracko]

It's action set-pieces were still awesome, though.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[dhex]

ahh, gotcha:

YOU NEED FAR CRY BADLY.

far cry is awesome. i tell people this and they're all like "whatever man" but i swear to you far cry fucking rules if you like run and gun insanity. especially the first half of the game before it gets so difficult you want to cry.

i've heard people praise black as well in this regard, but it's not cheap enough for me to buy it yet.
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[Mr. Mechanical]

Black is a totally awesome run and gun game. Probably the best I've played in some time (didn't ever get into Far Cry after the PC demo, though I considered getting the Xbox version once). Anyways, Black came out at $40, which was completely worth it but it's probably $30 now if that's your thing. You can hold out for $20 if you want, but you'll just wander why you did when you finally do play it.

Damn, I need to get my copy back from my sister.

[Roam Unit]

So difficult you want to cry, eh? I'd always sort of ignored it due to the deadly combination of massive hype, bland-looking environments, and a mistaken impression that it was essentially Splinter Cell in first person, but between this and my recently piqued curiosity in Crytek due to the Crysis demo reel... well, I might just have to take a look in a few bargain bins.

[dhex]

i thought the environments were quite exceptional.

but again, i have bad taste.
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[Shapermc]

[TheRumblefish]

[Mr. Mechanical]

Yeah, hard mode is great and it's totally worth beating to unlock black ops mode. I mean, in black ops mode, they start you out in each level with an M16A2. That's an M16 with a grenade launcher attached to it. And they give you infinite ammo. As if running around blowing stuff up and capping dudes in the head wasn't already a blast it's like now they're saying "Oh hell, just go balls out with it and have a good time.". Not that you ever really need to conserve ammo to begin with.

It's got a lot of heart to it, for a shooter. It's kind of short but I've probably put over 20 hours into it. Gotta get all those objectives! And unlock the harder difficulties! And blow stuff up! Your mileage may vary though. Black is like a long steady burn of awesome for some people, and a quick bright fizzle for others.

[Roam Unit]

[Dracko]

So, new products on Steam. Lots of them. You've had the PopCap Games collection, now BloodRayne 1 and 2 are released alongside Advent Rising. Ps[i]ychonauts[/i] and DEFCON are soon to follow, the latter being high on my interest list and I'll probably need to get Uplink: Hacker Elite.

Episode Two and Portal are no-brainers. Dark Messiah maybe.

Interestingly enough, an MMORPG is set to see release too. It goes by the name of Pirates of the Burning Sea, and evidently is to do with 18th century Caribbean hooligans and crooks.

Finally, as of yet three unnamed games are being developed for release, one by Warren Spector (!) and Junction Point studies, who consist of old Ion Storm workers, and is apparently also going to be episodic; another inspired by the X-Com series and a last one by Turtle Rock Studios, the people behind Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and a variety of Counter-Strike: Source maps.

This all seems like a very exciting and lively time for Valve and its distribution service. I just hope it delivers for gamers as well as developers.

Also, what can you folks tell me about Advent Rising? It seemed like a Titan A.E. adaptation of sorts, aiming for epic feel and combat. Does it succeed in this?
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[simplicio]

See, this recent spate of releases has me a little worried. One of the things I really liked about STEAM before was that they seemed to be featuring interesting titles, like Darwinia and Rag Doll Kung Fu and The Ship alongside their more Valve-centric catalog. But the sudden release of old big-budget shit like Bloodrayne 2 makes me think maybe they don't have any sort of editorial policy after all and they'll just release any old thing. Which was probably true all along.

[dhex]

new warren spector?

edit - the more the merrier because then more crazy shit will get out.
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[Dracko]

[simplicio]

Oh, that's true. I'm all for Psychonauts gaining a larger audience, even if it means a release alongside Bloodrayne 2. That actually makes me think perhaps there was some notion of principles at work after all.

Bloodrayne 1 is a decent work of T&A-Vampire-Nazi exploitation, but it doesn't warrant a sequel, not to mention a terrible one like Bloodrayne 2. I don't know about Advent Rising, but I remember it failing pretty solidly. It didn't sound like anything inspired, certainly.

[DaleNixon]

The thing about Bloodrayne, the only really redeeming quality of the whole game, is the actual blood. I've never seen such detailed blood-spatter. On the PC, this game would be the game that would make you want to buy twin blood-spatter cards, overclock them, and run them in SLI mode.

[Scratchmonkey]

Just a note, Defcon is 5 bucks off if you pre-order it through Steam, which is a pretty nifty little deal.

[GSL]

Alternatively, if you're one of those people (like me) who has an inherant distrust of software distributed entirely via digital means through purchasing servers that may or may not remain online indefinitely, the Defcon website has the download+hard copy edition for $17.50. A bit more pricey than Steam's offering, which I'm not trying to discourage at all, but I just like the idea that the rights to games I purchase aren't going to vanish into the void of intarwebs should some cataclysmic event occur. Obviously, games would probably be the least of my concern should something happen, but eh, whatever.

[Toto]

So am I to assume that Defcon isn't going to get a physical release ie. that I can't just walk into a store and buy it?
Because that kind of sucks.

[Dracko]

I don't see why you shouldn't be able to. Darwinia and Uplink are sold in shops, and if they're even bothering to box DEFCON, why not sell it the traditional way, especially if they want to get exposure?
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Lackey]

I find it weird that I've seen Darwinia in Staples but never in an EB.
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| Little bird fighting against a bat sect game |

[Six]

I've never seen an Introversion game boxed, not even in an independent store.

[Laco]

So everyone's really jumping on board with steam: 2k to distribute four pc titles via steam. That makes 4 titles each from 2K, Activision, and Majesco, 3 from Introversion, 1 from Ubisoft (Dark Messiah), 7 from Strategy First, and about 5 billion from Popcap. None of these publishers have even had any relationship with Valve until now. Also, neither EA nor Vivendi (Valve's current and previous publishers) have any titles on there (yet).

I have to say I like this as a consumer. I mean, yeah, big bad corporations and all that. Sure, indie games have had digital distribution for many years. Not to mention no box/manual/hard copies.. but damn it's nice to be able to choose from a selection of actual big-name games, pay with credit, and have them added to your list straight away.

[Cycle]

I reviewed Shadow Grounds a few months ago, I enjoyed it. It's true it lacks personality and isn't up there with the classics, but it's still a fun blast if you're looking for that kind of thing.

I also reviewed Dark Messiah which is a great action game, the only problem being that it isn't just an action game. The thiefy and magey parts are under-developed, but as long as you put a few points into combat skills, you'll be alright.

I still play DEFCON, but it seems not everyone else is. I tried to get a bunch of people to start a game on a forum I frequent but only got one or two people to join, so I just ended up joining a random server (which is still good, assuming they don't use a stupid rule set). My boxed copy came yesterday! Yay!

I like all these other games that are on there. Most of them aren't high quality titles, but at a nice budget price I'll probably give them a play, such as Bloodrayne and Advent Rising (which I thought was a PS2 game but apparently not) which has a plot written by the Enders Game guy. I also hear the plot sucks, but still.

I'm also worried less focus will be given to the more interesting indie games, though. I guess I'll see how it turns out. And PopCap can fuck off.

FarCry is a pretty rad game, some of the restrictions are annoying though. Like the chopper that comes to get you if you wander off a little too much. I would have liked some more exploration.

It sounds like I need to play Black.

[Laco]

I can't say I have a very high opinion of Shadow Grounds, but then I did just play the demo. It just seemed to be trying too hard to copy other games, which isn't a huge problem I guess, if it's well done. The whole time I was just thinking about how much better Alien Swarm (UT2K4 mod, also coming to Source) was as an experience.

I'll have to try Dark Messiah. It comes out tomorrow in the US, but another couple of days later everywhere else, right? I'll probably wait for my new pc parts to arrive before buying it, but it looks like a lot of fun. Sort of a more polished and action-y Arx Fatalis.

Defcon's good. Have they fixed the server browser yet? I gave up on it after about a week, when the supposed 'initial load' still hadn't abated. I'd be up for a game or two if it has been fixed!

I mostly like the idea that everything's on this one service (that isn't going to disappear anytime soon), so I don't need to worry about media, particular websites, logins, or anything, just the one steam account. That's the big benefit I see over a 'portal' like Manifesto Games, or a 'rental service' like Gametap. I agree it'd be nice if they put some more focus on indie games, although Introversion's pretty indie. Maybe the more big name stuff they get, the more room they'll have for smaller titles, although putting it like that I'm suddenly less optimistic

[Lockeownzj00]

Aah, The Ship. I used to have good times in the first one. I really should buy that; it's the type of sequel that just makes you feel good there is one.

I've still not gotten a chance to play DEFCON, despite having waited for it since announced...I've heardgreat things about Dark Messiah.

Basically, I'm laughing now at all the nay-sayers who conveniently slinked into the darkness when Steam started kicking ass.

[Cycle]