Last Video Game You Played?

17980828485175

Comments

  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    edited April 2017 Posts: 15,423
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    Outlast (2013):

    It's been a long time since I tried out a survival horror, but this Outlast keeps you rolling around with your brain attempting to rocket its way out of your head with all those jumpscares and the adrenaline-bumping stressful suspense the game puts you through. It is, in a way, an equivalent of Shutter Island and The Cabin In The Woods (albeit much more coherent than that), giving you a small reminder of Silent Hill as well as some Slender Man. The gameplay is alright, the control movements being a mixture of old and new, the story however, for a video game, is compelling. There are lots of disturbing elements in it and even things that stay with you for sometime, irritating your mind due to its utmost unpleasantness. However, I liked it. Haven't tried the DLC sequel yet, entitled Whistleblower, I'll be getting down to it once I get a grip on my mind.

    Also, looking forward to the real sequel that's supposed to come out this year.

    When that game first came out, and before classes had started for the semester, I remember sitting in my dorm room, packed with a good ten or so other people I knew, as they watched me play it, enduring screams and jumps alongside them as I went along. Was good fun - wish I had the skills to complete it on that Insanity mode or whatever it is, but I've never been good at those "Beat a game with only one life" modes.
    Haha, @Creasy47! I doubt I will ever go back to playing it again, let alone try it on the Insanity mode. I played both Outlast and its expansion pack/DLC, Whistleblower throughout two consecutive nights, and now I'm wondering... Why the hell did I do that, again? Whistleblower had jumpscares and some foggy locations that creeps you out for a moment, but the original one and its involvement of the occult-related matters really haunted me, especially when you have to go around and collect the three fuses to open that laundry bar to get the key to the third floor, and then the burning of that self-posited priest in some ritual... Definitely don't recommend playing that bit during the night. It's only today I recovered from it. Haha!

    That also said... I have this strong urge to write a survival horror outline for a video game in that vein, but where you can use combat and weapons to fight your assailants. Preferably in First-Person. Don't like this run and hide concept with a defenseless protagonist.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    edited April 2017 Posts: 13,978
    Free Running (Playstation 2)
    This game got very exposure at the time, and hasn't gone down as a classic on the console. I definitely think that this is something of a hidden gem, and quite rare too, given how few copies I have seen (my copy and that's it).
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,968
    @ClarkDevlin, this is completely random, but I was so bummed that 'Outlast' didn't end with:
    You in that final vault area where the Walrider was kept; instead of being possessed and killing everyone, you escape up a random ladder, only for it to pop you out RIGHT next to the player's vehicle, where it clicks that the answer to your escape was inches from where you first parked, and all the horror and torture you endured could've been avoided by exploring the immediate area.

    Then again, I guess the player was initially under the impression he'd be doing some quiet digging, not shitting his pants and spending the night hiding from some notoriously terrifying insane criminals.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Creasy47 wrote: »
    @ClarkDevlin, this is completely random, but I was so bummed that 'Outlast' didn't end with:
    You in that final vault area where the Walrider was kept; instead of being possessed and killing everyone, you escape up a random ladder, only for it to pop you out RIGHT next to the player's vehicle, where it clicks that the answer to your escape was inches from where you first parked, and all the horror and torture you endured could've been avoided by exploring the immediate area.

    Then again, I guess the player was initially under the impression he'd be doing some quiet digging, not shitting his pants and spending the night hiding from some notoriously terrifying insane criminals.
    Haha, exactly, @Creasy47. That's exactly how it should have ended. You'd know how was he mind-f***ed and you could hear him insanely laughing at himself as he drives away.

    At least, that car is driven by a different protagonist later on. Haha! :))
  • Posts: 1,631
    Mass Effect: Andromeda was the latest one. I'm kind of caught in the middle of a whole bunch of different games, so I really need to buckle down and finish one or two of them. Been playing ME: Andromeda, Resident Evil VII: biohazard, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and Fallout 4 lately. Really need to get around to finishing one of them.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    @dalton, do you agree or disagree with all the hoopla that has been made about the animation issues and bugs of Mass Effect: Andromeda?
  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,968
    I'm several hours into 'Andromeda' now and it feels like it has gotten a bit buggier, but nothing too terrible. I have had one quest that bugged out on me, forcing me to reload a save and lose nearly an hour of gameplay. Other than that, nothing too serious, aside from random pop-ins every now and then. Loving this game so far.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    @Creasy47, I am still amazed every day from all the stupid criticism I hear about the game from a number of outlets (I follow a lot of gaming news and podcasts). While I get that some people find the game boring, those that blow the animations out the window are another issue entirely.

    Not only did the original games have the same buggy animations (hell, there were more memes of buggy character eye boggling and weird walking than anything else!), some of the most blindly adored games in recent history are even worse. Mass Effect Andromeda isn't a third as poorly designed or bug filled as the likes of Bethesda's games, and yet the former is absolutely piled on while the latter are raised up on a pedestal with game of the year nod after game of the year nod every single time...except sometimes you can't even beat a Bethesda game.

    If we're going to get on a game for being wonky or unplayable, let's shift our eyes from the rather meek example of Andromeda and look at other major titles that do the same things, yet escape most criticism. Funny, that!
  • Posts: 1,631
    @dalton, do you agree or disagree with all the hoopla that has been made about the animation issues and bugs of Mass Effect: Andromeda?

    To some degree I agree with those that have knocked the animation, but at the same time, it was the hoopla in the first place that had me looking for it when I first fired up the game.

    But, in an overall sense, I think they've made a bit too much out of the animation and bug issues. The bigger issues, I think, are in the game's script. A lot of the dialogue feels very clunky, and the fact that the actors performing the lines clearly were not given access to each other's recordings nor were they in the same room with each other is pretty clear from listening to the game, at least in the early going (I'm not far in).

    I think that if they'd had some of the people who worked on writing the original trilogy on board to write this, there wouldn't be a lot of this backlash against the game. The script and dialogue would come across more naturally, since those involved in the original trilogy were better writers, and that would cover up some of the animation issues and glitches that, left purely on their own, aren't that big of a deal.

    They really set themselves up for something great with the concept of Andromeda, but I fear that they won't be able to pull it off entirely based on what I've seen so far. Still, it's a fun game so far and I'm always game for another trip through the Mass Effect universe, which was what really got me back into gaming after a pretty long hiatus there for a while. One aspect of the game that really felt like a missed opportunity, that could have lent some more dramatic weight to the game, is the entire reason for the Andromeda Initiative in the first place. They claim in the opening that it's about new beginnings and exploration. They should have tied it into the events of the original trilogy (since it's said to be set sometime around the time of Mass Effect 2, and had these people set out for Andromeda as a kind of "continuation of civilization", so that humanity (and the Turians, Krogans, etc.) survive a potential annihilation of their races at the hands of the Reapers. Huge missed opportunity there, IMO.
  • TheSharkFromJawsTheSharkFromJaws Amity Island Waters
    Posts: 127
    dalton wrote: »
    Mass Effect: Andromeda was the latest one. I'm kind of caught in the middle of a whole bunch of different games, so I really need to buckle down and finish one or two of them. Been playing ME: Andromeda, Resident Evil VII: biohazard, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and Fallout 4 lately. Really need to get around to finishing one of them.
    I suggest finishing up RE7 out of all those, as it's by far the quickest to finish, but MGSV and Fallout are both well worth all of the time put into them. It depends on how far along you are in them though. Are you enjoying all of them?

    Haven't played any ME games and don't really plan to after hearing the response to the new one.

  • Posts: 4,813
    Me and the wife played Resident Evil VII every night when it first came out. We had to wait till nighttime because of windows and we had to play in pitch blackness.

    Good times.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    edited April 2017 Posts: 28,694
    @dalton, I agree on the voice acting. Bad line readings, or asking actors to deliver them in an isolated booth while nowhere near their fellow cast is always visible in the performance. The original ME games were guilty of some of that wooden or otherwise awkward delivery where you knew nobody was ever together, and it's a shame that the new games have repeated it.

    It's time that these AAA games all hit sound stages and do full performance capture work like Naughty Dog always does. The Uncharted games and The Last of Us are the pinnacle of video game performance on every level, from the ability of the actors to play scenes with one another to the highest degree and for the talented animators to make the characters feel like real people.
    Me and the wife played Resident Evil VII every night when it first came out. We had to wait till nighttime because of windows and we had to play in pitch blackness.

    Good times.

    @Master_Dahark, I've said this before, but you've got yourself a great lady there. Which of you is most susceptible to the jump scares? ;)
  • Posts: 4,813
    We were both huddled together as we took turns- that is one scary game!!
    I'm actually on the market for that crazy $500 PS4 VR, for this game alone!
  • Posts: 1,631
    @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7, I'd very much have to agree there, although I do think that they pulled if off much better in the original trilogy. Now, a large part of that probably has to do with the sheer amount of talent that they were able to bring in to voice these characters, talent that was often times well known and we could forgive some of those issues through a combination of being familiar with the voice as well as the fact that a lot of those actors were talented enough to give line readings that were at least able to come close to matching the context that the scene required. That's missing from large stretches of the new game, unfortunately. That said, it's still fun thus far and I have heard that things do get better as you go, so there's that as well.

    I just hope that, when times comes for the next installment, that they learn from the criticisms that have been levied against the game. While most have been extremely over the top and not at all in line with the actual severity of the problem in the game, they do represent areas that Bioware could work to improve themselves on in the next go round. Go out and get some memorable voice and likeness talent for the next one like they did in ME2 with Martin Sheen, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, and the like. Bring in some professional actors to do motion capture so that the characters are fully rendered based on actual human beings instead of what a computer engineer thinks they actually move like. Simple things like this could put the franchise back on track (not that it's far off now anyway) and headed towards some truly great things on this new console generation.
  • BMW_with_missilesBMW_with_missiles All the usual refinements.
    Posts: 3,000
    I finished Timesplitters 2 today. Awesome game! I was pleased to see that the guys who did Goldeneye N64 weren't one-hit-wonders.

    Next up; No One Lives Forever. I just ordered a copy on Amazon a few days ago for only $9. What a deal! I suppose after that it will be Perfect Dark and Yooka-Laylee. I've sort of had a mental "Games to Play" list going for a while now. After I'm through with these last few, I'm not sure what games I'll have to look forward to.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    In my opinion, No One Lives Forever is miles and mountains and galaxies superior to Perfect Dark. It's got everything the big fan of the 1960s spy craze wants and loves.
  • BMW_with_missilesBMW_with_missiles All the usual refinements.
    Posts: 3,000
    In my opinion, No One Lives Forever is miles and mountains and galaxies superior to Perfect Dark. It's got everything the big fan of the 1960s spy craze wants and loves.

    Sounds awesome! I'm really looking forward to it, and I read somewhere about a trick to get it to run on Windows 10, so hopefully I won't have to drag out my XP machine.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Is the developer of No On Lives Forever still around, or did they get bought up and absorbed like so many others?
  • BMW_with_missilesBMW_with_missiles All the usual refinements.
    edited April 2017 Posts: 3,000
    Is the developer of No On Lives Forever still around, or did they get bought up and absorbed like so many others?

    @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 As far as I know, the developer Monolith is still around, but the rights to NOLF sound like an even bigger mess than the rights to GE N64; http://kotaku.com/the-sad-story-behind-a-dead-pc-game-that-cant-come-back-1688358811

    Edit: Monolith was bought by Warner Bros in 2004; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_Productions
  • Posts: 12,467
    Is anyone else here excited for Yooka-Laylee (2017)? Banjo-Kazooie (1998) is one of my all-time favorite games, and Yooka looks to be a worthy spiritual successor! Old Rareware was so good (Banjo, Conker, GoldenEye, DK games, etc.); great memories.
  • BMW_with_missilesBMW_with_missiles All the usual refinements.
    Posts: 3,000
    FoxRox wrote: »
    Is anyone else here excited for Yooka-Laylee (2017)? Banjo-Kazooie (1998) is one of my all-time favorite games, and Yooka looks to be a worthy spiritual successor! Old Rareware was so good (Banjo, Conker, GoldenEye, DK games, etc.); great memories.

    I'm definitely planning on playing it, though I never did finish Banjo-Kazooie.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    I played one Banjo-Kazooie as a boy, but can't place which one it was. There was a big mountain with a bridge on it and water surrounding it, but that's all I really remember as I didn't progress in the game and just screwed around.

    As a kid I'd be babysat at a neighbor's home while my parents were at work, and I'd just hide away in their basement, where they had a Nintendo system I spent my day playing games on, including the one above. That could've been my first proper foray into the existence of interactive entertainment, a seed randomly planted that I reaped while getting the Gamecube when I was a little older. Crazy, that.
  • Posts: 12,467
    GameCube is the best! My favorite system (only because of its games, but that's why I buy gaming systems).
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    Next up; No One Lives Forever. I just ordered a copy on Amazon a few days ago for only $9. What a deal! I suppose after that it will be Perfect Dark and Yooka-Laylee. I've sort of had a mental "Games to Play" list going for a while now. After I'm through with these last few, I'm not sure what games I'll have to look forward to.

    NOLF is great fun to play, and to pick out all of the 60's Spy film touches. There was once talk of a remaster, but due to the aforementioned rights being in a tangle, nothing come of it.
  • Posts: 2,107
    NOLF is the best 007 game and it isn't even James Bond game. It's that good.

    007 meet Austin Powers meet In Like Flint.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    SharkBait wrote: »
    NOLF is the best 007 game and it isn't even James Bond game. It's that good.

    007 meet Austin Powers meet In Like Flint.
    You said it, mate! :D
    Is the developer of No On Lives Forever still around, or did they get bought up and absorbed like so many others?

    @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 As far as I know, the developer Monolith is still around, but the rights to NOLF sound like an even bigger mess than the rights to GE N64; http://kotaku.com/the-sad-story-behind-a-dead-pc-game-that-cant-come-back-1688358811

    Edit: Monolith was bought by Warner Bros in 2004; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_Productions
    Sadly, No One Lives Forever's intellectual property rights is in a mess and nobody knows who owns the rights. Back in 2014, newcomer developers tried to license up the IP and wanted to remaster the first game with HD quality and re-release it. What do they hear next? Warner Bros threatened legal action against them, but still have no proof that they own the rights. Monolith doesn't, and Activision that bought Sierra, doesn't either. There's no chance this game would ever see another installment in at least for the next 30 years. And it pains me to say that because it's the best shooter I've ever played and the best spy game of all time.
  • 00Agent00Agent Any man who drinks Dom Perignon '52 can't be all bad.
    Posts: 5,185
    cool to see so much appreciation for NOLF. Blew my mind back in the day. it definitly is one of the best shooters i ever played. incredibly immersive.
    i think it's time to give it another round.
    How did you like 2 @ClarkDevlin?
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    edited April 2017 Posts: 15,423
    I like No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way a lot, @00Agent! And the soundtrack is a lot better than the one given to the first. But, it was bit of a disappointment for me that it wasn't as creative as the first one was, despite having better gameplay mechanics. Mechanics that we'll see serving as essentials for the later Monolith series, F.E.A.R. The main reason I didn't find the second game quite as appealing as the first is because it's more action-oriented and less stealthy approach than the first, but nevertheless, helluva of a video game.

    However, I don't like its semi-prequel spin-off, Contract J.A.C.K. for one bit. Even for an all-along action adventure shooter, it was totally utterly disappointing to see such downgrade from Monolith that really destroyed the IP of NOLF, in my opinion. Despite being built on the same textures, engines, graphical material, assets and animations of the second game, J.A.C.K. is nothing remotely similar to the spirit of its godmother.
  • Posts: 2,107
    If I remember correctly it was just a clorified mod with close to no plot and stripping of stealth and all the things that made the two N.O.L.F. games so immersive and fun.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    J.A.C.K.? No, it was developed and published officially by the same people.
Sign In or Register to comment.