DigDog
Lifer
- Jun 3, 2011
- 14,310
- 2,766
- 126
Stg-Flame
Diamond Member
- Mar 10, 2007
- 3,646
- 582
- 126
Spyro is one of my favorite PS1 games. Great platforming and collectibles that aren't infuriatingly difficult to achieve. Now you just need to play the other PS1 Spyro games.
I played all three Spyro games on an emulator at one point. Some of the best platformers from that era, and such games were very rare on the PC back then. There is a modern remaster too.
One of the best fps game i ever played and I played it like 10 times since its release. Why do you ask you never played?
DigDog
Lifer
- Jun 3, 2011
- 14,310
- 2,766
- 126
- Nov 16, 2006
- 7,943
- 9,073
- 136
After the pure mindless fury of Serious Sam I'm looking to something a bit more cerebral. Shadowrun Returns clocks in at 12 hours, I thoroughly enjoyed the standalone Dragonfall, and it supposedly gets harder to enjoy Returns the more you play the subsequent games as they all brought some major QOL improvements to the game engine.
Great universe, sadly under served. I deeply love anything that can overlay sci-fi on top of fantasy and I rarely see such a fun concept in games (can really only think of Arcanum as another example, even if its not really Sci-Fi but steampunk cramping magic's style).
Its the kind of world that deserves a deep AA or AAA cyberpunk treatment if anything ever did.
Great universe, sadly under served. I deeply love anything that can overlay sci-fi on top of fantasy and I rarely see such a fun concept in games (can really only think of Arcanum as another example, even if its not really Sci-Fi but steampunk cramping magic's style).
Its the kind of world that deserves a deep AA or AAA cyberpunk treatment if anything ever did.
Stg-Flame
Diamond Member
- Mar 10, 2007
- 3,646
- 582
- 126
January - Chasm, Black Mesa, Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter
SS2 is a massive improvement over the first game with better graphics, new weapons, new enemies, and that's it. It's the exact same game except this time you're in South America looking for the Holy Grail for some reason and you're still chasing Mental. I think my biggest gripe with the game is how the AI is programmed to circle around you instead of lead a direct attack. This leads to some really annoying situations during the larger levels when all the enemies spawn in front of you, but they all run perpendicular in order to pincer you so if you don't manage your priority targets, you'll end up spinning in circles trying to kill everything but for the most-part, it just means you'll be backpedalling through the previous arena because they send literal hundreds of enemies at you at once. Some of the arenas are pretty bullshit in that they won't let you progress until you pick up an ammo pack/health/armor/powerup/etc. even if you don't need that item because they programmed the enemy waves to spawn the moment you pick up that item. Most of the time the item is in the direct middle of the area and it'll instantly spawn enemies all around you and above you. Lastly, just like the first game, I ran through this in about 12 hours so it's definitely not worth more than $10. Onto SS3...
Edit: **** Kleers. If this enemy is in SS3, I might just skip the game. I hate this stupid enemy with a passion.
SS2 is a massive improvement over the first game with better graphics, new weapons, new enemies, and that's it. It's the exact same game except this time you're in South America looking for the Holy Grail for some reason and you're still chasing Mental. I think my biggest gripe with the game is how the AI is programmed to circle around you instead of lead a direct attack. This leads to some really annoying situations during the larger levels when all the enemies spawn in front of you, but they all run perpendicular in order to pincer you so if you don't manage your priority targets, you'll end up spinning in circles trying to kill everything but for the most-part, it just means you'll be backpedalling through the previous arena because they send literal hundreds of enemies at you at once. Some of the arenas are pretty bullshit in that they won't let you progress until you pick up an ammo pack/health/armor/powerup/etc. even if you don't need that item because they programmed the enemy waves to spawn the moment you pick up that item. Most of the time the item is in the direct middle of the area and it'll instantly spawn enemies all around you and above you. Lastly, just like the first game, I ran through this in about 12 hours so it's definitely not worth more than $10. Onto SS3...
Edit: **** Kleers. If this enemy is in SS3, I might just skip the game. I hate this stupid enemy with a passion.
Stg-Flame
Diamond Member
- Mar 10, 2007
- 3,646
- 582
- 126
January - Chasm, Black Mesa, Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, Serious Sam 3: BFE
SS3... I'm going to do a proper write-up on this since I was pretty critical of the previous two games and I feel like this one deserves the added detail. Also, yes I know it's technically February, but I was just stuck on killing the final boss on the 30th before I went back to work and spent a few hours today finishing it up.
Story/Plot - 8/10
I'm scoring this somewhat high simply for the fact that the story on the previous two games were just confusing garbage and this game actually has a story. SS3 is a prequel to the first game so the story revolves around figuring out how the Time Lock works and getting it started so Sam can go back in time and save the Earth. The game is set back in Egypt again so if you were incredibly bored of seeing sprawling deserts then not to worry because CroTeam set you up with even more sprawling deserts but now with added temples!
Visuals/Graphics - 8/10
It looks just like the previous games except prettier. If your favorite colors are brown, tan, and red, then you're going to swoon over how much brown, tan, and red is in this game (because those are pretty much the only colors in this game). There's a few city-scapes, but they're desert city-scapes, so there's that.
Sound/Music - 9/10
Much like Doom 2016, the heavy metal accompanies slaying hordes of enemies rather nicely and while I was going to score this much lower before I had beaten the game, I did bump it up from 7/10 to 9/10 simply because the song during the ending credits is actually really good and I'm a sucker for any game that has an actual song during the credits (Dead Rising, Dishonored, etc.). The main gripe with the music in this game is that is fades in and out when enemies are around, so if you're at the ending stages of the enemy waves, you'll get that heavy metal kicking in really loud the moment an enemy aggros on you, but the moment it dies, the music fades off again. During most of the enemy encounters this becomes more annoying than anything because you'll get just a few seconds of music before it fades out, so it's less of listening to music and more of just listening to an audio cue to know when you've been seen or how to tell if there's an enemy that got stuck behind a wall but they're still aggro'd on you.
Gameplay - 4/10
I had typed a lot of this up before I beat the game. I was about four levels before the final boss when I had all of this sorted and ready to just be copy/pasted back here with some final thoughts and touch-ups regarding the ending, but after enduring what can only be described as gameplay so annoying that even the Geneva Convention would outlaw it, I had to rewrite this entire section. Originally I had written vast swaths of praise about how we have a new melee mechanic that changes depending on if you have a gun or melee weapon in your hand that gives a whole new level to the combat, but that only lasts for about four levels before it goes right back into the same old "here's 400 enemies that will spawn in waves, have fun". I will say that the arenas are a lot more open than previous games which gives you more room to move around on top of being able to cheese a few encounters by jumping on top of structures but with the new enemies being airborne and/or ranged, this tactic only works in the first few levels. They also removed all of the power-ups from the game and ammo is VERY scarce for most of your weapons (pretty sure there's only 12 sniper bullets in the entire game - not joking or exaggerating) so when you get that shiny new rocket launcher, you better save it for the enemies that cannot be hurt by your normal weapons. Health and armor is scattered all over the place but the +100 pickups that push you over the limit are few and far between. No more ammo packs either and from what I could tell, if you don't go searching for the secret areas, you'll never see the Laser or find ammo for it since all of it was gated behind secrets.
So, with the new weapons, new enemies, and new fighting mechanics, why did I score it so low? Very simple. One particular arena battle two levels from the final and the entire final level by itself. I'm not annoyed that this game forces us to kill thousands of enemies in the arena/wave format because that's what this game is, but at least in previous levels the monotony of this format was broken up with sections of story and simply progressing through the level. Previously, the arenas had you mostly confined to one area where you'd mow down hundreds of enemies with whatever weapons were at your disposal but once it was over, you'd continue through the level with a few enemies here and there but the final level is one never-ending arena and the waves will spawn stronger and stronger enemies as you progress towards the end. It does offer rocket/C4 refill boxes as well as plenty of ammo for the rest of your weapons (except two), but during the start of these waves, you're just standing there until your minigun is out of ammo, then until your rocket launcher is out of ammo, then until you're out of C4, and before you know it, there are so many enemies spawning that you've back-pedaled halfway through the level. You do this until the waves start slowing down and then you push forward until the next wave starts at the next ammo refill point. Up until this level, the game was fun. There was action but there was also progression. You would be confined in these arenas in past levels, but only for a few minutes. The final level while playing on Normal took me over three hours to beat simply because of how far you'd get pushed back by the sheer number of enemies that would spawn and each time you'd encounter the next wave, there would just be more. At the final wave alone, I sat in one spot next to a rocket refill box for almost thirty minutes while holding left click until all 50 rockets ran out, then I'd refill and start holding left click again. Thirty goddamn minutes of doing nothing but firing rockets at (not joking) at least 500 Kleers (horse skeleton things) with Werebulls periodically charging through. That's not fun. Nothing about that is fun because it's no longer just slaughtering enemies, it's simply waiting out a timer.
The final boss was pretty fun, though it did take me a while to figure out how to damage him and he'll kill you in one to two hits, so until you figure it out, you'll be seeing the start of that final cutscene a lot. All in all, I'm glad I finally got to experience the Serious Sam games and I can confidently say that no matter how fun SS4 looks, I'll never play these games again. End of rant.
SS3... I'm going to do a proper write-up on this since I was pretty critical of the previous two games and I feel like this one deserves the added detail. Also, yes I know it's technically February, but I was just stuck on killing the final boss on the 30th before I went back to work and spent a few hours today finishing it up.
Story/Plot - 8/10
I'm scoring this somewhat high simply for the fact that the story on the previous two games were just confusing garbage and this game actually has a story. SS3 is a prequel to the first game so the story revolves around figuring out how the Time Lock works and getting it started so Sam can go back in time and save the Earth. The game is set back in Egypt again so if you were incredibly bored of seeing sprawling deserts then not to worry because CroTeam set you up with even more sprawling deserts but now with added temples!
Visuals/Graphics - 8/10
It looks just like the previous games except prettier. If your favorite colors are brown, tan, and red, then you're going to swoon over how much brown, tan, and red is in this game (because those are pretty much the only colors in this game). There's a few city-scapes, but they're desert city-scapes, so there's that.
Sound/Music - 9/10
Much like Doom 2016, the heavy metal accompanies slaying hordes of enemies rather nicely and while I was going to score this much lower before I had beaten the game, I did bump it up from 7/10 to 9/10 simply because the song during the ending credits is actually really good and I'm a sucker for any game that has an actual song during the credits (Dead Rising, Dishonored, etc.). The main gripe with the music in this game is that is fades in and out when enemies are around, so if you're at the ending stages of the enemy waves, you'll get that heavy metal kicking in really loud the moment an enemy aggros on you, but the moment it dies, the music fades off again. During most of the enemy encounters this becomes more annoying than anything because you'll get just a few seconds of music before it fades out, so it's less of listening to music and more of just listening to an audio cue to know when you've been seen or how to tell if there's an enemy that got stuck behind a wall but they're still aggro'd on you.
Gameplay - 4/10
I had typed a lot of this up before I beat the game. I was about four levels before the final boss when I had all of this sorted and ready to just be copy/pasted back here with some final thoughts and touch-ups regarding the ending, but after enduring what can only be described as gameplay so annoying that even the Geneva Convention would outlaw it, I had to rewrite this entire section. Originally I had written vast swaths of praise about how we have a new melee mechanic that changes depending on if you have a gun or melee weapon in your hand that gives a whole new level to the combat, but that only lasts for about four levels before it goes right back into the same old "here's 400 enemies that will spawn in waves, have fun". I will say that the arenas are a lot more open than previous games which gives you more room to move around on top of being able to cheese a few encounters by jumping on top of structures but with the new enemies being airborne and/or ranged, this tactic only works in the first few levels. They also removed all of the power-ups from the game and ammo is VERY scarce for most of your weapons (pretty sure there's only 12 sniper bullets in the entire game - not joking or exaggerating) so when you get that shiny new rocket launcher, you better save it for the enemies that cannot be hurt by your normal weapons. Health and armor is scattered all over the place but the +100 pickups that push you over the limit are few and far between. No more ammo packs either and from what I could tell, if you don't go searching for the secret areas, you'll never see the Laser or find ammo for it since all of it was gated behind secrets.
So, with the new weapons, new enemies, and new fighting mechanics, why did I score it so low? Very simple. One particular arena battle two levels from the final and the entire final level by itself. I'm not annoyed that this game forces us to kill thousands of enemies in the arena/wave format because that's what this game is, but at least in previous levels the monotony of this format was broken up with sections of story and simply progressing through the level. Previously, the arenas had you mostly confined to one area where you'd mow down hundreds of enemies with whatever weapons were at your disposal but once it was over, you'd continue through the level with a few enemies here and there but the final level is one never-ending arena and the waves will spawn stronger and stronger enemies as you progress towards the end. It does offer rocket/C4 refill boxes as well as plenty of ammo for the rest of your weapons (except two), but during the start of these waves, you're just standing there until your minigun is out of ammo, then until your rocket launcher is out of ammo, then until you're out of C4, and before you know it, there are so many enemies spawning that you've back-pedaled halfway through the level. You do this until the waves start slowing down and then you push forward until the next wave starts at the next ammo refill point. Up until this level, the game was fun. There was action but there was also progression. You would be confined in these arenas in past levels, but only for a few minutes. The final level while playing on Normal took me over three hours to beat simply because of how far you'd get pushed back by the sheer number of enemies that would spawn and each time you'd encounter the next wave, there would just be more. At the final wave alone, I sat in one spot next to a rocket refill box for almost thirty minutes while holding left click until all 50 rockets ran out, then I'd refill and start holding left click again. Thirty goddamn minutes of doing nothing but firing rockets at (not joking) at least 500 Kleers (horse skeleton things) with Werebulls periodically charging through. That's not fun. Nothing about that is fun because it's no longer just slaughtering enemies, it's simply waiting out a timer.
The final boss was pretty fun, though it did take me a while to figure out how to damage him and he'll kill you in one to two hits, so until you figure it out, you'll be seeing the start of that final cutscene a lot. All in all, I'm glad I finally got to experience the Serious Sam games and I can confidently say that no matter how fun SS4 looks, I'll never play these games again. End of rant.
Last edited:
- Nov 16, 2006
- 7,943
- 9,073
- 136
- Nov 16, 2006
- 7,943
- 9,073
- 136
OK, back on the wagon again. Have some time this week with the fam out of town to sit down and focus on a game or two.
Sort of looking through a couple different options:
Pit People: Pretty quick story, classic Behemoth games humor, nice cartoony graphics + relaxed turn based combat. Probably with stick with this one.
Tomb Raider (2013): Just playing my way through the game's opening but its already grating on my nerves the sheer amount of cutscenes and "hit X to continue playing" gameplay mechanics. May stick with it but ehhhhh
Borderlands GOTY Edition Enhance: Another go at Borderlands. I always seem to drop this game after a couple of hours every time. I like the look of the game, the humor can be a bit tryhard, but what really kills me is its an ARPG but I have to actually pay attention to the game (unlike most isometric ARPGs where you can split your attention between the game and Netflix or something). When I'm forced to actually pay attention to an ARPG I begin to get irritated by the excessive skinnerboxing and gamification.
Downloaded some other stuff (Titans quest, Hollow Knight, Force Awakens 2) but haven't really dipped into them. Looking at a quick burn (10-15 hours) rather than something I'm going to have to sink a bunch of time into.
Sort of looking through a couple different options:
Pit People: Pretty quick story, classic Behemoth games humor, nice cartoony graphics + relaxed turn based combat. Probably with stick with this one.
Tomb Raider (2013): Just playing my way through the game's opening but its already grating on my nerves the sheer amount of cutscenes and "hit X to continue playing" gameplay mechanics. May stick with it but ehhhhh
Borderlands GOTY Edition Enhance: Another go at Borderlands. I always seem to drop this game after a couple of hours every time. I like the look of the game, the humor can be a bit tryhard, but what really kills me is its an ARPG but I have to actually pay attention to the game (unlike most isometric ARPGs where you can split your attention between the game and Netflix or something). When I'm forced to actually pay attention to an ARPG I begin to get irritated by the excessive skinnerboxing and gamification.
Downloaded some other stuff (Titans quest, Hollow Knight, Force Awakens 2) but haven't really dipped into them. Looking at a quick burn (10-15 hours) rather than something I'm going to have to sink a bunch of time into.
JujuFish
Lifer
- Feb 3, 2005
- 11,355
- 1,008
- 136
From what I remember, that was the worst in the first hour or two.
Stg-Flame
Diamond Member
- Mar 10, 2007
- 3,646
- 582
- 126
Yeah, don't start Hollow Knight if you're looking for something quick. I'm fairly certain you can beat it in that time, but it's hands-down one of the best metroidvanias out there and if you're into those types of games, it'll consume your life until you beat it at least once. I think I ran through the game three times back to back before putting it down and it's one of the few games I 100% without actively trying to 100%. It's just that good.
Whirlwind
Senior member
- Nov 4, 2006
- 540
- 18
- 81
I have a huge backlog. I have just started gaming again after a few year absence.
I want a new rig and have the parts picked out that I want...just GPU prices holding me back at the moment....but so far this old rig is holding up for me to get some of my back logged games finished.
I have finished the following recently.
Bioshock Infinite
Crysis 3
Splinter Cell Black List...playing now.
Call Of Juarez Gunslinger is on deck.
Have also played the following for the 2nd time, because I like the campaigns a lot.
BBC2
B3
BIAHH
I want a new rig and have the parts picked out that I want...just GPU prices holding me back at the moment....but so far this old rig is holding up for me to get some of my back logged games finished.
I have finished the following recently.
Bioshock Infinite
Crysis 3
Splinter Cell Black List...playing now.
Call Of Juarez Gunslinger is on deck.
Have also played the following for the 2nd time, because I like the campaigns a lot.
BBC2
B3
BIAHH
- Nov 16, 2006
- 7,943
- 9,073
- 136
- Nice! I'm sort of in the same boat. I have a number of newer games that my system can technically run, but I'll have to make a lot of sacrifices on settings. So I just put those on the back burner and am focusing on the older parts of my library (that would have been easy to run when my computer was new 6 years ago) until hardware prices come back down to earth.
Whirlwind
Senior member
- Nov 4, 2006
- 540
- 18
- 81
Yeah, seems to make the most sense. I would like to eventually get a card that could take advantage of a 144-165Hz monitor at 2560 x 1440
Not even sure what card this would be,but I would like to get there.
- Nov 16, 2006
- 7,943
- 9,073
- 136
Just completed The Force Unleashed 2. Holy hell that was a remarkably short game.
Still playing Pit People, might fire up another game to play alongside it.
Still playing Pit People, might fire up another game to play alongside it.
Fenixgoon
Lifer
- Jun 30, 2003
- 32,886
- 12,165
- 136
Halo Infinite - good game! the open world was a nice change of pace compared to previous installments (i've only played 1-3). I liked how you could loadout at bases, equip your marines, and go to town. though having a warthog with 5 rocket launcher marines inside is...a tad bit unfair in most cases. still a good challenge, including boss fights. they were frustrating but not impossible - usually just a matter of having the right weapons (which may not always be at your disposal, unfortunately).
Onto Mechwarrior5. So far, I prefer BattleTech over MW5 even though both are "mercenaries" style games. The first-person interludes seem totally unnecessary to me. Also, BattleTech has a much more compelling storyline (so far).
Onto Mechwarrior5. So far, I prefer BattleTech over MW5 even though both are "mercenaries" style games. The first-person interludes seem totally unnecessary to me. Also, BattleTech has a much more compelling storyline (so far).
Mechwarrior 5 is fun in coop, especially the DLC campaigns. The original campaign is good initially but gets repetitive and boring after a while, and I never finished it. The game really needs more variety in the missions. I like how all the buildings are destructible though, a feature I last saw in the Red Faction games.
- Nov 16, 2006
- 7,943
- 9,073
- 136
Just beat Tomb Raider (2013). Solid franchise reboot, compact 15 hour experience, fun from start to finish.
Rise of the Tomb Raider goes straight on my wishlist.
Rise of the Tomb Raider goes straight on my wishlist.
- Nov 16, 2006
- 7,943
- 9,073
- 136
Ok, gonna replace my double post with something a bit more productive:
Going to palette cleanse with something short and low intensity: Dear Ester. Mother of all walking sims is up to bat.
Going to palette cleanse with something short and low intensity: Dear Ester. Mother of all walking sims is up to bat.
Last edited:
- Nov 16, 2006
- 7,943
- 9,073
- 136
Breezed through Dear Esther. Such a moody deliberately paced game walking sim that my fingers are practically itching for some big loud fast paced action.
- Nov 16, 2006
- 7,943
- 9,073
- 136
- Yeah so anyway I started Hollow Knight. I'm totally sucked in, looking like a really top notch Metroidvania and worthy of the acclaim so far, and it definitely looks like its going to take me substantially longer than 10-15 hours to complete it.
Having an absolute blast and both the art and music are a feast for the senses.
nakedfrog
No Lifer
- Apr 3, 2001
- 61,248
- 16,734
- 136
I like Metroidvanias, and picked Hollow Knight up because people love it so much. For me, the art is fine (it's very well done, just not appealing), and I guess there was music in there somewhere? Not really into the whole "insect" theme.
Decent game overall, boss fights are too hard, moved on after I spent a couple sessions trying to beat Hornet the 2nd time, just not enough there to get me to keep trying.
Decent game overall, boss fights are too hard, moved on after I spent a couple sessions trying to beat Hornet the 2nd time, just not enough there to get me to keep trying.
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