Seems like a few companies are celebrating 20th anniversaries lately. Epic is celebrating its 20th anniversary and to commemorate the event they are releasing the "Epic 20th Anniversary Original Soundtrack."
Its a good sampling of all their games over the 20 years they have been pumping out the hits. To bad they didn't include ZZT.
Seems like a few companies are celebrating 20th anniversaries lately. Epic is celebrating its 20th anniversary and to commemorate the event they are releasing the "Epic 20th Anniversary Original Soundtrack."
I played the demo and decided to skip it, but decided to buy it on a whim and I am having so much fun with this game. Apparently the PC version was buggy as hell at launch, but I have yet to see a single bug.
I know one of the big complaints people have is that the graphics weren't great, but honestly I've been blown away by the graphics a few times. If you zoom in on a wall it's going to look bad, sure, but in general gameplay the environment is fantastic.
The AI is pretty good, the enemies will react to changes in the battle.... Read All
I think I'm about halfway through Rage, and I have learned three things.
I played the demo and decided to skip it, but decided to buy it on a whim and I am having so much fun with this game. Apparently the PC version was buggy as hell at launch, but I have yet to see a single bug.
I know one of the big complaints people have is that the graphics weren't great, but honestly I've been blown away by the graphics a few times. If you zoom in on a wall it's going to look bad, sure, but in general gameplay the environment is fantastic.
The AI is pretty good, the enemies will react to changes in the battle. Some will charge you in desperation, some will flee. If things aren't going well for them, they'll fall back to regroup. They do tend to fall into somewhat predictable routines at times, but the varied enemy combat types keep it fresh.
The gunplay is excellent. It's an id game, so that should come as no surprise.
There are some downsides though. It seems like it tried to do too much. The racing mechanics aren't that great, and racing is forced on you at least a couple times in the game. Often the game feels more linear than it lets on, but I don't mind linear. For some reason, a few updates ago they decided to disable console commands, making this the first id game I can remember where you can't turn on god mode. I guess that's good or bad depending on your view of it, but I always liked to go on a rampage run after I'd finished a game, turning it up to nightmare difficulty and having a rocket-fest. Certainly not a show-stopper, but a strange decision from Carmack and Co. The story is probably the worst offender-- truth be told, there's very little story to it. Some games don't need story, but this one could have benefited from it.
Overall the game reminds me of a mix of Half-Life 2, Borderlands, Fallout 3, and Motorstorm, and in a very few cases it does better than these games, but trying to do too much they may have spread themselves thin. It never achieves the greatness of any of those games. It's fun, tons of fun, but it didn't quite gel into the perfect storm of post-apocalyptic greatness they were shooting for.
I don't know. It had years of development and a lot of hype, so I assume it was bound to get criticized more heavily than normal, but I think this is a fantastic game that is overly criticized, often for unfounded reasons. It isn't everything it's cracked up to be, but it's a ton of fun, and I can see myself replaying it years from now in the same way I do the early id games.
For me, you got it on the best platform, the PC. I pre-ordered this on the PS3 and was disappoint. The PS3 version does have spit-screen Legends of the Wasteland which is awesome to play with friends though. That said, the single player wasnt great as it took way too long to save and death was way too costly with so much save game load time. Since I suck at twitch shooter controls on controller, it was hard to kill guys and do well at the PS3 copy.
I played it on the PC and it was like a much better game for me. I could shoot people, quick save existed and loading didn't take forever. The graphics looked better and everything. I know they spent quite a long time on the PS3 copy and it reviewed well but in my experience it wasn't as good as the PC version.
That said, the game is fun but I think my expectations were too high for it to meet them all. Its a great game, no question, but my initial console experience and a few other niggly things left me liking it but not loving it.
Still haven't beat it yet, but its fun to play it off and on through time. Graphics look fantastic on the PC too.
You beat Rage yet? I still have yet to do it as I am playing it a little bit at a time.
Travis Admin Post Author
wrote on 05/29/2012 at 01:25pm
Haha, nope. Diablo 3 happened.
I was starting to get a little bored with it, though. I got to Subway Town and realized this was going to open up into an entirely new map that I had never seen yet, that I needed to race for a new car, etc etc... I feel like the game should be ramping up to a finish, but it's stepping backward to stuff I've already done in a different setting.
I guess it's just a pacing problem. After I have some time with Diablo 3 it will probably feel fresher.
Yep. I'm in Subway town too and I have the same thoughts. Thing is I clocked 14 hours on my game to Subway town and it feels like it should be the end but it's not. Plus it's only been 14 hours and I've done everything I could.
Travis Admin Post Author
wrote on 05/29/2012 at 02:13pm
Yeah, I felt the same way. Going back to Diablo 3, because I find it hard not to think about it lately, pacing is damned important. The pacing in Diablo 3 is so amazing. Rage making you kinda start over to a point is really, really not.
This Weekend is a open beta stress test weekend for Path of Exile... So maybe you can curb your Diablo 3 anticipation...
Here's what they said:
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Want some dark RPG action this weekend, with all-new features and tons of flexibility?
We're opening up the Path of Exile Beta to everyone this weekend, May 11-13, so that we can stress-test our servers in preparation for entering Open Beta.
The last public weekend in March was a huge success and attracted a total of 47,000 players. We're keen to try to push that limit! There's a list of frequently asked questions about the public weekend here: http://www.pathofexile.com/publicweekend/
This week, we announced the Shadow, our... Read All
This Weekend is a open beta stress test weekend for Path of Exile... So maybe you can curb your Diablo 3 anticipation...
Here's what they said:
----
Want some dark RPG action this weekend, with all-new features and tons of flexibility?
We're opening up the Path of Exile Beta to everyone this weekend, May 11-13, so that we can stress-test our servers in preparation for entering Open Beta.
The last public weekend in March was a huge success and attracted a total of 47,000 players. We're keen to try to push that limit! There's a list of frequently asked questions about the public weekend here: http://www.pathofexile.com/publicweekend/
This week, we announced the Shadow, our Dexterity/Intelligence character class, which is available from the public weekend onwards. He prefers to use fast-hitting weapons such as daggers or claws to dart in and out of battle, while laying Traps or Remote Mines and controlling the flow of combat with deadly spells. You can read more about the Shadow here: http://www.pathofexile.com/classes/shadow/
Today we deployed the 0.9.9 Beta patch, which has been described as the most important patch that the game has ever had. In addition to adding ten new skills, four new support gems, a new quest, monster type and many bug fixes, it introduced a completely revamped monster AI and behaviour system. We're pleased to say that these changes have made Path of Exile more fun and challenging than it has ever been before.
If you enjoy the public weekend (or want to play earlier than that), we encourage you to support us by purchasing some microtransaction credit. All purchases grant Closed Beta access as our way of thanking you for your support. You're able to do this here: https://www.pathofexile.com/purchase/
iD Software is celebrating Wolfenstein 3D's 20th birthday today. As such they are releasing it for free on a few platforms as well as dropping the prices for a few other game packs on Steam:
Wolf Pack for $3.75 (75% off of Steam) — includes Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Spear of Destiny, and Wolfenstein 3D: http://store.steampowered.com/sub/418/
id Software Super Pack for $49.99 (50% off) — includes so many games, you should just visit Steam to get the lowdown: ... Read All
iD Software is celebrating Wolfenstein 3D's 20th birthday today. As such they are releasing it for free on a few platforms as well as dropping the prices for a few other game packs on Steam:
Wolf Pack for $3.75 (75% off of Steam) — includes Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Spear of Destiny, and Wolfenstein 3D: http://store.steampowered.com/sub/418/
I remember packing this game around on my floppies and playing it anywhere I could. This game blew my mind in terms of what games could be when it was new. I loved using the level editor to make my own levels. I made my High School, house and many other awesome levels with the Wolf Editor. I never beat all the Episodes save Episode 1. Had the shareware version for quite some time before I copied the original full game. Always felt bad about that, but I have purchased it MANY times over since as an adult. One memory I have of Wolf 3D is building up a boot disc so I could get the sound blaster to work in game. Cool to see things evolve such that I don't have to do that any more.
What are your favourite memories of this game?
PS the above commentary with John Carmack is amazing, check it out.
I have so much Diablo news I am going to break it out into a few posts over a day or so. The above linked video is a 5 minute recap of the Diablo story till now. If you are interested in a 50 foot view of Sanctuary and the sordid history of Tristram and why you shouldn't build your city right next to the place you imprison one of the main prime evils, check it out!
Blizzard recently blogged a Diablo 3 launch day preparation guide:
1. Come up with a good fake illness to call in to work with. 2. Stock up on dollar store 5 hour energy(the real ones are expensive yo!) for the 16 hour blitz... Read All
I have so much Diablo news I am going to break it out into a few posts over a day or so. The above linked video is a 5 minute recap of the Diablo story till now. If you are interested in a 50 foot view of Sanctuary and the sordid history of Tristram and why you shouldn't build your city right next to the place you imprison one of the main prime evils, check it out!
Blizzard recently blogged a Diablo 3 launch day preparation guide:
1. Come up with a good fake illness to call in to work with. 2. Stock up on dollar store 5 hour energy(the real ones are expensive yo!) for the 16 hour blitz you will give the game after it boots up. 3. Stock easy foam bats and nearby pillows for when Battle.net goes down and you CANT PLAY 4. Make no weekend plans as you need to power level all 5 classes to 60. GET ALL THE LEVELS!
I just hope it takes about as long to complete as Diablo 2 in a normal run-through. Without power leveling or giving uber gear it was a decent amount of time to finish, especially on 3 separate difficulties. I would be fine with it taking a little longer as well.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 05/09/2012 at 09:50pm
In the totally awesome news camp, looks like PixelJunk is having a 5th anniversary sale. Today until May 15 they are selling Racers, Monsters, Eden and Shooter for $1 each! PixelJunk Shooter 2 and SideScroller are both half-off for $5.
Looks like a good excuse to pickup PixelJunk Monsters as I loved the demo and never pulled the trigger on the full game.
You going to pick any of these up?
In the totally awesome news camp, looks like PixelJunk is having a 5th anniversary sale. Today until May 15 they are selling Racers, Monsters, Eden and Shooter for $1 each! PixelJunk Shooter 2 and SideScroller are both half-off for $5.
Looks like a good excuse to pickup PixelJunk Monsters as I loved the demo and never pulled the trigger on the full game.
Even with all the AAA titles around, the PixelJunk series is the biggest draw that the PS3 has on me. Don't know why, they just seem fun, interesting, and just different enough.
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I picked up Uplink as part of a Humble Bundle. It reminded me of the "Hacker War" type games I played on the BBS'es of yore back in High School. The premise is that you are a hacker and start with a few bucks and take on assignments to hack systems and get money to upgrade your computer to hack into more difficult systems. I guess all that to say is that its a text based computer hacking RPG. And... its fun.
I created an account and the tutorial allowed me to make a few hacks easily enough. I found the UI of the game to be a bit confuzzling a few times. Its not hard to navigate after you figure it out. The game UI is essentially a re-visioned Operating System UI similar... Read All
I picked up Uplink as part of a Humble Bundle. It reminded me of the "Hacker War" type games I played on the BBS'es of yore back in High School. The premise is that you are a hacker and start with a few bucks and take on assignments to hack systems and get money to upgrade your computer to hack into more difficult systems. I guess all that to say is that its a text based computer hacking RPG. And... its fun.
I created an account and the tutorial allowed me to make a few hacks easily enough. I found the UI of the game to be a bit confuzzling a few times. Its not hard to navigate after you figure it out. The game UI is essentially a re-visioned Operating System UI similar in nature to Fluxbox or IceWM Unix window managers.
I found the ambiance of the game to be on par with running a stripped down Unix system which is pretty cool. I mean the whole game is about computer hacking, so yeah, it fits the motif well.
I played a few games and lost at one point and had to make a new account. I am not sure what I did to get booted out of the hacking club, I think I got caught and didn't bribe an official or something. In the end if you are looking for a fun return to games like Hacker Wars or Drug Wars, Uplink is it. Plus its on steam and not too expensive.