The Gamer's Quarter

[dessgeega]

actually i think blood might be the response to harveyjames's issues with duke nukem 3d.
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[dhex]

[Harveyjames]

[Cycle]

Hey you know what else looks retarded? HARVEYJAMS. How can you not like stuff like this:



Something I forgot to ask earlier, has anyone played both Breakdown and FEAR? I ask because I think Breakdown may have been a heavy influence on FEAR! There are many similarities, and really FEAR feels like a less interesting but much more playable Breakdown. Just an observation...

But yeah, FEAR has some great gunplay going on. Monolith really knew what they were doing in that regard, which actually surprises me a bit!
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[Dracko]

[dessgeega]

harveyjames, you just hate everything unless it has mario in it. dracko is right: there's nothing systemically wrong with blood that isn't also wrong with duke nukem. the maps not only have a strong sense of theme and are believable as places, but they're also really good setpieces: good videogame levels, in the way you were complaining that duke nukem's aren't.
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[sediment]

yeah, and on top of that Blood's weaponry is like a billion times more creative than anything you get at your disposal in DN3D except maybe the shrink ray.

The flare gun alone trumps the dozen types of rockets Duke gets, and then on top of that you get a voodoo doll and other gems.

(PS I loved Blood but didn't really care much for Duke Nukem)
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[ryan]

I recall Blood 2 kicking my ass. I was really looking forward to it, endured the long download time for the demo (in the Time Before Broadband), and then got completely torn apart in the first level. Frowning face!
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[D-A-I-S]

[Dracko]

Yeah, the weapons in Blood are pretty damn clever for the most part. It's a grindhouse horror Western, and it works ever so well as a setting.

I'm not sure which is better, honestly: Shadow Warrior or Blood. They both work ever so well at what they're trying to do. The former is certainly more colourful.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Cycle]

As I said elsewhere, the shareware episode of Shadow Warrior was brilliant, but the full version, while being fun and well-designed, lacked the personality of the shareware episode.

I wish Blood 2 didn't suck

I finished FEAR last night (which is pleasantly short), the final run was indeed pretty weird, ending was dumb though. The game really isn't scary and I think the horror aspect was a missed opportunity, you don't need to be on your toes because it's either just gonna be bad guys or you'll get a warning that something weird is about to happen. Still, it's one of the best action games I've played in awhile.
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[Winged Assassins (1984)]

Shadow Warrior is more about the character whilst Blood is more about the levels.
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[dhex]

what about the lesser known shadowcaster?

well, that wasn't exactly an fps. it was origin trying to do hexen/heretic. (i never cared for hexen or heretic so i think origin was on the right track here, sort of).

and according to wikipedia it came out first so my hypothesis is wrong. hmmm.
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[D-A-I-S]

Oooh! Oooh! Someone tell me about Cybermage. Because all I knew about it for a long time was that....was that....uh, breasts.

Breasts?

Looking at Mobygame, there isn't much in the way of mammary on the box...where did my association of Cybermage and breasts come from?

Glancing at the Witchaven entries, I don't see many breasts on those boxes either. Was I really on the internet that early, to see screenshots of breasts in these games? Why did I associate those games with breasts, which at the time were a subject of endless wonder?

Man, I don't know what's going on.

Let's all pretend we think that Amulets & Armor is an unsung classic.

[dhex]

sorta boobs:
http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/cybermage-darklight-awakening/screenshots/gameShotId,115628/

??? or not. i don't think i'd ever heard of cybermage, which is weird cause i was jocking so hard on origin's dick i was getting calluses.
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[Cycle]

cybermage has been on my TO PLAY list for a long time now. It's supposed to be quite good, plus Warren Spector produced it and we all know I have the hots for ol' Specy.
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[ryan]

I could never get Cybermage to work with my old Micron P90. I remember trying to play it around the time Witchaven came out. I read nothing but good things about Cybermage at the time, but never got it working on any of the later systems I tried to run it on - much like Wing Commander Armada.
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Come to me, Mordel. We shall depart.

[jjsimpso]

[Cycle]

Boobs and bums in Cybermage:



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[Harveyjames]

I heard the voice acting in Cybermage is of exceptionally hilarious quality!

[Shapermc]

how does that bottom work? does it just drape over the front?
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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!"

[Cycle]

So Cybermage!

The first thing you'll notice is David W. Bradley's name, because it's everywhere! While the game is loading in DOS, in the intro, on the title screen, and another place I forgot. Probably when you quit!

So this game is pretty clearly influenced by 2000 AD comics like Judge Dredd, the art design and general attitude is quite similar, all garish and generally pretty bad, but GOOD bad (in my opinion). It has lots of charm! There is a heavy comic motif going with the game. After a short CG sequence, the intro is a series of narrated comic panels and each new level begins by showing a comic book cover hinting at what's to come, and an actual comic came with the game. The game is also pretty stylish with it's interface, the hand of your character (from a FP view) selects everything.

So the plot is about a world controlled by corporations and rebels fighting back and weird technology and stuff, your character took a bullet for someone and was rewarded by an implant in your head that kept you alive while also giving you CRAZY MAGIC POWERS. You wake up with no memory and discover the place you're in is under attack because everyone wants whats in your head. The first level starts with you alone deep undergrounf in the lab, having to wade through an underground lake fighting weird grubs and zombie things before making it to the main lab (after a meeting with a mysterious figure who tells you that you're in great danger), full of enemy soldiers. Eventually you'll get a message from your midget friend who you have to free, who then gives you a passcard to continue through the level, and eventually escape to the slums of the city via the sewers after solving a few puzzles/finding items. So it's a pretty standard FPS level, though quite ahead of it's time in terms of objectives and such. It's a good introduction to how the game works. Also you get to drive a tank, so that's cool.

So you crawl out of the sewers (p.s you can go back and forth between most levels and the City later on is a bit of a hub), and are instantly greeted by a group of thugs who say WELL LOOK WHAT JUST CRAWLED OUT THE SEWERS or something to that effect. So this level is basically running around the streets and rooftops beating up thugs. There are a couple good thugs who will help you out, including the guy you were told to meet earlier who says the only way to get out of the slums is to win in RIPPERDOME ARENA (in case you haven't figured it out already). You need $2000 to enter, but it's easy to find money by busting in buildings and kicking the crap out of the gangs inside and stealing all their crack money. There is also a cool moment where you find a bunch of people who say HEY LOOK IT'S THAT GUY FROM THE NEWS and I'M GONNA COLLECT THE BOUNTY ON YOUR HEAD!! and you actually find a news stand thing with a telly and a lady talking about you, even showing footage of you in action, so that's neat. She goes on to talk about other news too, revealing more about this world. Did I mention speech is used brilliantly in this game? Because it is. Anyway so eventually you fight in the arena, win, and escape the slums (though once on the other side you can place bets on other fights!) also PROTIP: Look everywhere in the buildings because one of them has a new spell I missed the first time around, though you can probably find it later. There is also lots of good loot, plus killing enemies and collecting their ESSENCE or whatever levels up your character, so it will increase your health or mana (or whatever the hell it's called in this game) a little, or sometimes just replenish it. It's kinda annoying how quickly the ESSENCE dissapears, you have to be quick to grab it.

The third area is the city hub, which is really hard at first because it's crawling with enemies (and also cop hovercars. PROTIP: pull out your gun and fire as rapidly as you can until they blow up (greandes also work but the gun is easier)). A news report reveals martial law has been declared, and you'll come across a huge billboard where the main bad guy appears and explains what's going on to the citizens. Kinda like Half-Life 2 and Breen! In fact, Half-Life 2 totally stole everything from this game! Well, not really. You're hinted by some hooker to visit the bar (I did it before I was told) and you meet a chick who wants to help you out, and gives you a passcard to one of MANY stripclubs. After a HILARIOUS interaction with two strippers, you're told a rebel meeting is being held in the park. You go there only to find they were set-up, all the rebels are dead and you are left to kill all the enemies. Before dying, one of the rebels gives you his card to NEX SEX, to meet a guy who will loan you his hovercar, which you can use to fly over the closed in police station to free other rebels and stuff and that's where I'm up to now. The city is pretty great, it's quite large and is full of stores, a casino (i.e. a room with a slot machine in it) and has a few neat secrets.

Also yes, the voice acting is hilariously bad, but speech is used well. I'm having a good time with it so far, the pacing is pretty good and it's one of those games where you feel like you're on an actual adventure, like with Deus Ex and Thief 1 and Marathon 2 and such.

HOWEVER, time hasn't been kind to this game. Actually, even when it came out it was probably sort of flaky. This game is VERY clunky. The controls aren't as tight as they could be, you'll get caught on walls often, combat is a very clunky, unrefined affair and there are some bad design choices such as not freezing the game when you're trying to change weapons (which is done in little menus) which is a pain during a firefight. But it's still quite playable and enjoyable once you get the hang of things, just keep it in mind. So yeah, it's a pretty neat game so far. Apparently the plot gets more interesting later on.
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[Cycle]

So the police station was a fun romp, well designed, full of action and some fun scenarios. Met/freed a few more people including a saucy Aussie (hilarious fake accent ahoy), reprogrammed robots to help us, ran around a pit full of xenomorph style things, used a jetpack around an area flooded by acid, all in all it was a good time.

After that it was back to the city, hooked back up with the hookers (who are actually like, half robot half human pleasure model things? I don't know) and I'm given a message to meet up with some guy who will give me access to one of the corporation buildings which has a NEW EXPERIMENTAL WEAPON I need to kill the boss. I go meet him but it doesn't go well and I end up killing him, whatever, off to the building!

This is another fun level, well designed with a good sense of place and full of secrets. It starts out with sneaking around offices and ends with fighting another cybermage dude, stealing the weapon, and setting a reactor to self-destruct setting up a dramatic escape (with two possible routes!)

Then it's back to the city!
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[Slonie]

LameDuke is a news to me... Here's a video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_dOiDiZoYU

Check out that environmental destruction! It's like a proto-Red-Faction!

Speaking of that, Red Faction was excellent!
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-Slonie

[Winged Assassins (1984)]

I am still waiting for 3DRealms to release a Shadow Warrior beta because that shit looked real.
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[Cycle]

[dessgeega]

hey, i played serious sam the other day.

i like it!
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[Cycle]

Serious Sam is without a doubt the best Arcade FPS (for the lack of a better term) title out there. All the clones that came afterwards didn't even come close to its brilliance. Even the expansions and sequels.
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[Dracko]

So I should buy it? Is Red Faction worth buying too?
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Cycle]

Serious Sam? Definitely. You can grab the GOLD edition which includes the (not as good as the original game but not straight out awful like the sequel) expansion pack for $10 easily.



Red Faction? Eh, not so much... it hasn't aged well in my opinion, though the GEOMOD gimmick is still pretty great. Grab the demo first (but not the shitty second demo which doesn't even have any good GEOMOD sections) and make your judgement from that.
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[D-A-I-S]

Cycle convince me that the original Serious Sam is better than 2nd Encounter.

Also is anyone interested in co-op play of either of the first two?

[dhex]

red faction is a good example of a game that knew what it was doing, then threw in the obligatory stealth levels and fucked it all up. rather than progressing through larger and larger explosions.

maybe that was a programming limitation?
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[Shapermc]

Where the hell can you still buy new copies of Serious Sam? I would love to because I haven't played it in years.
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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!"

[dessgeega]

so serious sam is all about huge battles:often you're fighting ten or more enemies at once, a few of whom often chase you around while the other ones shoot at you. the game makes this managable in a few ways: it's extremely generous with ammo and health; you fight in enormous open spaces so it's easy to maneuver; every enemy makes a disctinct sound, so you can tell who's in the battle without having to see them. and it has a ridiculous plot about travelling back in time to egypt to find an ancient weapon that will stop an alien invasion.
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[dessgeega]

and whenever you try to quit the game it asks you ARE YOU SERIOUS? (in a perfect world, i guess, "no" would quit.)
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[Winged Assassins (1984)]

Everyone should own Serious Sam so that they can play Parse Error which, amoung other things, does hilarious shit with the enemy numbers.


Also, CroTeam are working on the next version of their engine which looks amazing.

EDIT: Changed last link.
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[Cycle]

[Winged Assassins (1984)]

[Cycle]

You don't see his arms!

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/?p=1868#more-1868
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[Winged Assassins (1984)]

Well blow me dick they actually have something to show for the twelve years and it suffers from the same problem that most first person shooters seem to these days which is darkness, everywhere.

Is it wrong to be more excited about footage from 1998 than footage from 2008?
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[Cycle]

NO.

I still think the second trailer they released looks amazing. The first trailer looked a bit eh, but man, that second one BLEW ME AWAY. The could release that build of the game and I'd buy it instantly.

This new build looks very ordinary, yes.
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[Winged Assassins (1984)]

It's Prey syndrome, the 'old' game is more interesting than the current game.
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[Winged Assassins (1984)]

To illustrate my point 'old' Prey was really something of an achievement. Now look at what the game turned into. The same applied to 'old' Duke Nukem Forever, this video, which is probably what Cycle was on about though I think that the earlier footage was much cooler.
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[aderack]

[Shapermc]

[Shapermc]

[D-A-I-S]

[Cycle]

Try eBay, that's where I got mine. I mean, look at this one:

Ebay link!

[Worm]

Those 3D Realms are listless fucks, and the game is going to represent that.
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Exit stage left, exit stage right, there is no place to run, all the fuses in the exit signs have been BURNT OUT

[Winged Assassins (1984)]