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<R.t..>^>Fusionc · Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:30 am Post subject: Video Game reviews

I'll be making a new thread, similar to that movie/tv thread I made. Only this is for games. All platforms allowed.

I just got my copy of FEAR 2 and will post my review on it later on this week. And note that I am a guy who gets startled quite easily so I should get some good scares from this sequel.

Smile

In the mean time, here are some other reviews. Surprisingly, Eurogamer gave it a 5 and a lot of the comments agreed that they won't buy it because of one review. I don't care, I am not a sheep when it comes to game and game reviews. I am a fan of the FEAR series and therefore I bought it. I am sure the link I gave will update later this week, even tomorrow.

Install:

I thought the install would be pretty standard. However, I noticed that my Steam was updating and I didn't know it had to do with FEAR. Then I am greeted with a window to enter the CD key. What I m trying to get to is that Steam may be required to install the game for some reason. I don't know and I can't do a double confirmation on that. Strange but not intruding. Or may just because I have Steam.

Will update soon.

I am now looking for that Genevieve lady right now. And boy, did I get some good startled, I actually swore out loud. First thing I noticed though, control wise, is that they didn't include peeking; like in the first FEAR. I wanted to peak around corners and pillars but they took it out. Not a huge disappointment , but a real nitpicker for me.

I am partway right now. The lean function not being there makes the gameplay like it was made for consoles, which is starting to disappoint me even more. Somewhat sad because the first FEAR was made on the PC. I also miss the quicksave and the extreme difficulty. Again, I blame the console for this.

I am still getting pretty good scares myself.
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Reckless · Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 4:08 pm Post subject:

Good idea for a thread! Very Happy

Fear2 sounds like a blast. I even avoided the demo so not to ruin the game's opening. Cant wait to grab me a copy of it too. Fear1 is one of my fav games and proved to me why my $400 GF7800 and dx9 was worth it at the time! Seems like fear2 is an improved version of it..more action, more scares, more everything... though from all the reviews i've been reading it has been kinda watered down for the console crew.
and now you mention that there's no lean.. sigh... Wired was the only review to mention that they also took out the cool melee attacks from the first game too.. i loved killing doods with the slide tackle.. hell i was hoping for more melee attacks.. butt strokes, head butts, fists maybe?

bah.. I've always been a pc and console gamer.. but because this gen of consoles are fairly beefy.. they've ruined tried, tested and true PC fps mechanics.
One review criticized the game for allowing the player to be able to carry 4 guns..saying that it wasnt being "realistic". Riiiight.. and the one man army with slow-mo tearing up ghosts, monsters and clones is some how everyday.. Rolling Eyes

(besides, on my second play through of games i usually cheat to have a bit more fun.. in the first fear that meant being allowed to have all the gats at the same time)
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Reckless · Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 4:23 pm Post subject:

(didnt want to add this in the above post as its a diff topic)

I bought Burnout Paradise.. freaking phenomenal game. I played the PS3 version alot at my bro's (720p).. but now on the pc at 1600x1200 and blistering frame rates.. man i love games like this.
the game is the same as the console versions which is good and bad. we get all the content released over the last year.. but .. its been a year since the game has been out and I was hoping for more of a face lift for the pc. some textures can get ugly when not moving fast.. and the particle effects seem toned down.. i miss the mass amounts of sparks when slamming into cars, guard rails ect..

also one trend i've noticed.. menus and setup screens ect are way too console like. Completely un-intuitive. The GUI's should be made for PC gamers for f**ks sake. The problem was so huge in Unreal Tourney 3 that they had to patch it after people complained so much. It honestly took me like 5 mins to figure out how to change the games audio/visual and key configs.

Dont get me wrong I love this game and recommend it to anyone who enjoys arcade racers. Cause frankly this is THE arcade racer.

One thing I knew going into the game but still sad to see missing was the lack of cops. An open world racer should have cops I think.
But even this has been rectified with an upcoming content release. COPS are coming to Paradise City! WOo! Twisted Evil

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<R.t..>^>Fusionc · Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:27 pm Post subject:

TAViX · Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:17 pm Post subject:

FEAR2? You mean Project Origin? Was it released yet? How much is on STEAM?
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Reckless · Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:58 pm Post subject:

lol thats awesome! stupid Wired.. the reviewer said there wasnt melee attacks like the old game..thats what i get for reading something called "weird".
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<R.t..>^>Fusionc · Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:54 pm Post subject:

TAViX · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 3:21 am Post subject:

Downloading now with 8MB/s. Wtf? Is the server in my building??? Laughing

I just hope I didn't waste 50 bucks for nothing...
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"All matter is merely energy condensed into a slow vibration. That we are all 1 conscience experiencing itself, subjectively. There is no such thing as death. Life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of our selfs."

Hammer_Time · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:58 am Post subject:

Sauron_Daz · Moderator Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 22639

My connectionspeed it 16 mbps, but not many sites offer thye full d/l speed.
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Reckless · Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 12:00 am Post subject:

i'd even take that 100gb limit.. ass monkey Rogers Communications caps me at 60Gigs and i have they're fastest or 2nd fastest service available.
every month i'm over that damn limit and every extra gig costs $2.00. It adds up... believe me. I HATE download caps!! Evil or Very Mad

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tranzistorx · Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 12:03 pm Post subject:

Left 4 Dead is now 50% off on Steam. Sweet!

Hammer_Time · Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 6:43 pm Post subject:

<R.t..>^>Fusionc · Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 8:54 pm Post subject:

SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry cow! Embarassed

Well, I am at the Wade Elementary level. However, I have encountered a major glitch in the game and is hampering my experience with it. My experience with it has been amazing up to that point.

In the level where you have to grab the keycard and go back, the elevator doesn't activate. I tried some resolution change a forum member has suggested. It hasn't worked for me.

I'm gonna troll around the FEAR 2 forums to see fi I can get a solution. So far, I am stuck.

Apparently, Alma is supposed to attack you after you pry open the elevator. But I haven't pryed it open because it didn't even tell me to do so. God, I hate trigger faults in games, especially in games of high profile.

For those of you who have FEAR2, post up if you have solutions for this.
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Cow187 · Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 9:15 pm Post subject:

Spolier alert much? Thought this was supposed to be game reviews not spolier theatre. Laughing

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<R.t..>^>Fusionc · Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:00 pm Post subject:

Whoops sorry about that. Will edit my post.

SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#@#@#@#@

Apparently, I was doing it wrong. Those puppet controller guy which I initially thought you could not kill was the key. I had to unload my entire submachine gun on the guy to kill it. Then I pryed it open and let Alma attack me a bit then pushed her away.
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I play games, not benchmarks. So all you fanboys/fangirls, just STFU!!
"I close my eyes, to escape the seas of reality... I dive deep into the ocean depths of my mind..."

Hammer_Time · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 12:52 am Post subject:

Just installed FEAR 2 and got to the elevator, thanks for the SPOILER!! Evil or Very Mad

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<R.t..>^>Fusionc · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:38 am Post subject:

F.E.A.R.2 Project Origin Review

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just finished the game today and I have to say, I feel . . . somewhat robbed a bit, story wise.

The actual game experience was fantastic . . . at first. I am the kind of guy who can get scared quite easily so I did get some really good scares from this game. To improve my experience, I used headphones instead of my puny speakers. This really had my heart racing. However, it got to a point where the scares became expected. At first, these creepy crawly guys who scales wall and ceilings freaked the shit out of me. But after a while, they became somewhat annoying but got me pumped up as I blew them up with a shotgun. Gave me lots of smiles when I did that. After progressing more, the scares won't really scare you, just make you startled or swear. In the beginning, I felt afraid. scared. But that ebbed away later on in the game. But don't get me wrong, I still spouted out swear words right to the end, just not as loud anymore.

I also noticed, that without lean and a simplified control scheme, it seriously felt like a console port. This feeling of sometimes just going out there and run and gun pissed me off. The tactical feel wasn't fully there, especially without the lean. Sometimes the coverage was of little use to me, at others, very useful. But I couldn't shake off the feeling that it wasn't made for the PC.

I blame the console generation for this. I also blame consoles for the stupid QTEs. Sure, they are ok at first but it became a chore for me. I just didn't like the button mashing sequences, it just wasn't needed on the PC.

Another monster that truly pissed me off was those puppet controlling dudes. At first I thought they were invincible but I realized during the Nurse Office mission that you have to unload all you magazine of you submachine gun or rifle to kill them. They would resurrect dead troops and they would aimlessly shoot you, which I thought was pretty cool.

Now with the troops, I was playing the entire game on Hard mode with no cheats or trainers of any kind. The AI was just too easy. I mean, I could stand infront of them, jump around, and still kill them with a pistol. They did use coverage and group tactics, but that wasn't enough for me. It wasn't challenging enough for me. And the item drops also made it possible for you not to die at all.

The mechanized bit was very fun. I enjoyed fully, watching replica forces explode as you plow them with 50.cal bullets. I did feel unstoppable until I had to get out again.

There was one nitpicking thing that bothered me during firefights, no bloody lean. I had to expose me whole body just to kill some dudes. Sure, it would mean a challenge but it also means FEAR2 loses its tactical feel somewhat. I surprised to see that the replicas were also leaning but I could not. The melee attacks were still all their but I rarely used them.

The environments were varied, which I liked. as I said before, the game experience did get me swearing really loud and the environment added to my startles. Broken old buildings, bodies gutted out with their intestines in a whirl, bodies on the streets that looked like victims of the Pompeii blast, and as well some screwed up school. I have to give credit for them from moving away from office spaces to more open space.

Many people said the graphics look like crap. I have to disagree. They are a huge improvement over FEAR 1. More colours, more interesting textures. Don't expect Crysis awesomesauce but it is good looking. But expect minor graphical glitching, especially with some of the water effects.

Audio wise was also great. With Dolby Pro Logic IIx enabled on my Xonar, the sound felt more real and crisp, especially with headphones on. The audio environment in the game was well suited to the various levels, kept me interested and alert as well. Soundtracks were also well done and chosen. Very eerie, ambient, as well as tingly.

The story . . . when it comes to franchises like these, you can't screw up. This was where I was a little robbed, the story. You had to pick up intelligence items to read what was going on, bits of info on the characters, projects, and other stuff. I wanted to see more cinematics but there wasn't any really.

Point Man did not even make a cameo. I was surprised because he is the son of Alma and pivotal for the FEAR story as a whole.

I wanted better story telling, but I didn't get it. But, since it was FEAR2, I was still engaged of what was going on with Becket and Alma.

At the end of the game, it sets for another FEAR game. I'll spill the beans here.

Alma goes ahead and does some funky mind rape. Once you were strapped into the chair, she proceeds to rape you so she can get pregnant. I wasn't expecting that twist but it wasn't amazing either. After the raping, she is shown to have a bigger belly and you hear a female voice "Mommy". And that was that.

I was wanting more, but there is this feeling that looms that I felt robbed. I mean, it is a fun game. Lots of weapons, good scares initially, great environment. It was just the story that let me down a bit.

Oh, and a tidbit of Alma (older version). Her body get more skin and flesh as she absorbs people. So, you may see some titty action going on LOL. There was some other posts I found on the net where some people agreed that the older version of Alma near the end of the game is attractive . . . I would tend to agree with that assessment (NOTE: Older version). xD

After the game however, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. I mean, her babies were taken away while 14/15 years of age. I guess this is retribution. Strangely, I also feel happy I guess that she has a baby to hold in her arms. I just wonder what Becket is gonna do now.

So was it worth my time and money? Yes, it was. Is this game for everyone? No. Even for some FEAR fans like myself, you may not like it.

I just hope Monolith pays attention to many of the forums out there that are discussing his game now, especially on the official project origin forums so they can bake up a better, sweeter batch of FEAR3. FEAR 2 was a bit doughy, not that sweet, but still very edible. And I ate it all.

Game itself: 8.5/10
Feeling after game: 8/10
_________________
I play games, not benchmarks. So all you fanboys/fangirls, just STFU!!
"I close my eyes, to escape the seas of reality... I dive deep into the ocean depths of my mind..."

TAViX · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:26 pm Post subject:

Akram · Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:21 am Post subject:

I've played Street Fighter IV and it ROCKS!!

Forget about the crap Anime they used for the prologues and the huge muscles, and you'll love it.

The game feels home with the other classic titles. The animation is beyond awesome, and the fighting mechanics is as fast as ever and very challenging. New characters has good moves and style.

I'm so tired to right anything more therefore i give the game thumbs up.