All Things Videogame Related: EXTREME VS!!

[VF5SS]

i'd be more excited if the trailer wasn't full of tribal chest thumping about PC gaming and the website wasn't a kickstarter begging for money thing :<

[frothymug]

Looks really interesting! I loved Freespace and Freespace 2 and haven't seen any good space combat sims since then. Never played Wing Commander games, since I was into other things at the time. Gotta keep an eye on this one.

[CoreyD]

There's a stand alone Freespace2 Wing Commander mod that's pretty decent.

http://www.wcsaga.com/

You don't need to own Freespace2 to play it. It's worth a download if you need your WC fix.

[Chronocidal]

Well.. ok. As much as I love Freespace2, I'm sick of that engine being the go-to for every single space combat game in recent existence.

People have managed to do amazing things with it, but there are still a lot of things that you'll probably need a new engine to achieve. Mostly, I want full 3D cockpits. We've had those since 1998 in many games, most of which weren't anywhere as good as FS2.

Also..

You know... For petes sake.. I WANT TO BE ABLE TO LAND MY SHIP MANUALLY. I honestly can't put into words how sick I am of "press X to enter the hangar/hyperspace" to end missions.

That, and I'm tired of sims being limited to either space or atmosphere. Some games have tried to incorporate planetary and space flight, but it's only done very rarely. Last good version I remember was Wing Commander III, and even that had to rely on cutscenes for reentry. I'd love for someone to take up the challenge of building a seamless transition from spaceflight to atmospheric/surface attack missions.

Edited October 13, 2012 by Chronocidal

[Shadow]

It's great to see Chris Roberts back at it again and trying to breath new life into the PC space flight sim. I liked the tribute that was paid at the beginning of the trailer. Really great of them to do that for Paul Steed and Wing Commander fans. Personally, I would love to see WC 1 and 2 redone with this engine. I'd be interested to see Mark Hamill or Malcolm McDowell reprise their character roles, even if it's just voices in a possible remake. Alot of great things have been done with the Freespace 2 engine but it's time to see something new imho. It's basically my gripe with the LOMAC/DCS flight sims.

The project is a long ways away from reality though.

This video seems to answer alot of questions. Just skip to 5:11.

Edited October 13, 2012 by Shadow

[mikeszekely]

Pokemon Black and White 2. The obsessive-compulsive kid in me will be busy for awhile attempting to catch them all on his way to the Elite Four.

[Old_Nash]

A teaser from possible new game of Darkstalkers.

At last...

[Einherjar]

That, and I'm tired of sims being limited to either space or atmosphere. Some games have tried to incorporate planetary and space flight, but it's only done very rarely. Last good version I remember was Wing Commander III, and even that had to rely on cutscenes for reentry. I'd love for someone to take up the challenge of building a seamless transition from spaceflight to atmospheric/surface attack missions.

The closest I've seen recently is in Evochron Mercenary. It looks tedious though.

Right now I'm putting my hopes on X Rebirth and Star Citizen for good space sims, but I would like to see actual gameplay instead of visuals before I commit to anything.

[Black Valkyrie]

A teaser from possible new game of Darkstalkers.

At last...

AKA Vampire Resurrection.

[Ghost Train]

DOOM3 BFG Edition is Glooooorious! Yes, it is basically the same game, but the redone flashlight mechanic plus the processing power of current-Gen differences completely made it worth it for me. Brings back memories.

[renegadeleader1]

DOOM3 BFG Edition is Glooooorious! Yes, it is basically the same game, but the redone flashlight mechanic plus the processing power of current-Gen differences completely made it worth it for me. Brings back memories.

So no duct tape mod needed?

[Ghost Train]

Not familiar with the "duct tape" mod, but how it works now is that the flashlight is part of your armor. So you can operate any weapon with the light on. There is still a rechargeable battery on the light, but it fills up really quick after a few seconds of inactivity.

[azrael]

Not familiar with the "duct tape" mod, but how it works now is that the flashlight is part of your armor.

The "duct tape"-mod was a mod that allowed a flashlight-beam of light to be used on all the weapons. This spawned from complaints that the scenery was so dark (looked awesome, but was too dark) and us players had to whip out the flashlight so often just to see where the frak we were all the time. So someone came up with the idea to make a mod that projected a beam of light (or highlighted certain textures from a cone-like shape) from the front of the weapons. This could be done since game was fairly modifiable at the time. Why was it called the "duct-tape"-mod? Because, of all things around this game, there's got to be a roll of duct tape that we can tape a flashlight to our weapons. Remember Aliens and Ripley's "field-modded" pulse rifle/flamethrower? Yeah, that was the idea. Yes, it messed with the atmosphere of the game but it was annoying enough to draw up support for this mod.

[Mommar]

DOOM3 BFG Edition is Glooooorious! Yes, it is basically the same game, but the redone flashlight mechanic plus the processing power of current-Gen differences completely made it worth it for me. Brings back memories.

Really? I'd heard people complaining that the game actually looks worse then the original, especially with some of the mods people had put out for textures, etc...

[Black Valkyrie]

Anyone facing some issues with their 3DS XL, When ever I select in the menu or activate the game, it switches on the camera ?

[Mommar]

That's a pretty weird 3DS issue I've never heard of before. I know on the original 3DS it could be pretty easy to accidentally bump the L or R button and turn the camera on when doing other things but even still that was rare.

[D.D. Ivanov]

I'm going to leave this here.

[Major Focker]

just got Zone of Enders HD.

the graphics upgrade is nice, though less spectacular than i thought it would be. nonetheless, i'm just so happy being able to play 2nd runner again after all these years

a couple of things i noticed:

- the anime cut scenes seem to be only in stereo. my AV receiver is on auto-detect so that it decodes according to the input signal ie. outputs stereo if signal is 2-channel, surround sound if signal is multi-channel. so i had to adjust the receiver to force surround sound output regardless of input signal

- the cut scenes seem to be a tad shaky. not a frame rate issue, but more like they were shot in shaky cam style. i don't recall them being that way on the PS2, but then again that was years ago, or maybe i'm just so overwhelmed i got dizzy

i'm having such a blast with the frantic action that i'm starting to get hand cramps! so i gave it a rest and posted instead..

[GU-11]

just got Zone of Enders HD.

I take it that's the Japanese version, right? I've been closely following the news on this game, and AFAIK the English version hasn't been released yet.

BTW, when's the NA release date again?

[valkyriechild]

Should be today.

Hmm.. beyond the bounds, been a while since the last time i listened to it.

[GU-11]

Should be today.

Hmm.. beyond the bounds, been a while since the last time i listened to it.

Thanks for the heads-up!

Probably be a week or two before it reaches my neck of the woods, though.

[Major Focker]

I take it that's the Japanese version, right? I've been closely following the news on this game, and AFAIK the English version hasn't been released yet.

english version

i had the shop call me as soon as it got in. worldwide release is Oct30. i probably got it earlier either because of typical singapore efficiency or just because of the time difference.

the english collector's editions aren't in yet though. the japanese CE came in last weekend and was tempted to get it because the gold box looked wicked, and bigger than i thought.

[mikeszekely]

A part of me really wants to get the ZOE collection. I did enjoy playing them, especially the second one.

But $40 seems like an awful lot for a pair of older games that can be completed in one afternoon... combined. It took me around 4 hours to finish the first one, and I remember reading in an interview with Kojima where he suggested that ZOE 2 would be twice as long. I was pretty pissed when I finished ZOE 2 in 2 hours, 47 minutes.

[GU-11]

english version

i had the shop call me as soon as it got in. worldwide release is Oct30. i probably got it earlier either because of typical singapore efficiency or just because of the time difference.

the english collector's editions aren't in yet though. the japanese CE came in last weekend and was tempted to get it because the gold box looked wicked, and bigger than i thought.

Wow, that was quick. It usually takes my usual store about a week or so to bring new games in, or three days at least.

A part of me really wants to get the ZOE collection. I did enjoy playing them, especially the second one.

But $40 seems like an awful lot for a pair of older games that can be completed in one afternoon... combined. It took me around 4 hours to finish the first one, and I remember reading in an interview with Kojima where he suggested that ZOE 2 would be twice as long. I was pretty pissed when I finished ZOE 2 in 2 hours, 47 minutes.

Wait, are you serious?! And I thought that DOTM game was short, clocking in at five hours. Unless the re-playability is great, 4 hours for 2 games combined is total BS. No way I'm paying that kind of money for it. ZOE HD is off my to-buy list if that's the case.

[Major Focker]

i must be a really terrible player. it took me a weekend to get through ZOE2 on the PS2. but loved every minute of it.

[mikeszekely]

Wait, are you serious?! And I thought that DOTM game was short, clocking in at five hours. Unless the re-playability is great, 4 hours for 2 games combined is total BS. No way I'm paying that kind of money for it. ZOE HD is off my to-buy list if that's the case.

No, I'll be fair and say it's about four hours each, so eight combined. Assuming its your first play through, and you don't skip any dialog or anything, anyway. You can easily go through ZOE 2 without saving in a single sitting if you know what you're doing, though.

[David Hingtgen]

Yeah, there is no way I could do ZOE 2 in THAT short a time while actually watching the story/scenes.. (Damn Vic Viper battle...)

[Chronocidal]

Ok, so for anyone who follows Battletech/Mechwarrior stuff..

I've been fiddling around in Mechwarrior Online with some friends. I was initially really really skeptical about them doing anything worthwhile with a free to play online Mechwarrior title.. color me decently surprised and optimistic about it. Mechwarrior Online just went into open beta, and while it's very clearly still a beta (some would say more an alpha really), I was surprised at how in-depth it is.

I was expecting some arcadey mech battle game, with simplified mechanics, top-down view, etc... No.. they actually made it a simulator. It's cockpit-view only, and you've got all the bells and whistles for controlling weapons groupings, sensors, IR/night vision, etc. I actually was able to set the game up and run it with a stick, throttle, and rudder pedals, but a mouse/throttle/rudder control is probably the best way to go. According to my Battletech junkie friend, they're staying pretty close to the actual tabletop mechanics too.

It's definitely still lacking in game modes and features, so it's an in-progress title, but what I've played with it so far has been fun, and not too heavy on the "pay to win" side of things. That may change, but so far there's nothing you can get with real money that you can't get with in-game money, and weapons and equips can't be bought with cash credits anyway, just actual mechs to customize.

You start out with default trial mechs that you can't customize, but aren't bad for learning in since you pay nothing to repair/re-arm them. Buying your own costs anywhere from 2-20 million in game credits, depending on how fancy/tricked out it is. While that seems like a lot, you can pretty much count on around 100k credits per match (you get paid whether you win or lose, you just get more for winning), so it doesn't take too long to build up funding for a mech and weapons.

Warning though.. starting out is a pain. There's no tutorial, no practice range, and no way to test your control/graphics/weapons configs without just joining a game. Only available game mode currently is an 8 vs 8 base capture, and the matches are pretty short, since there's no respawning. Really steep learning curve for people who haven't played a MW title before though. Word is they plan to add tutorial missions or practice areas in the future, but it does seem really stupid to not do those before open beta launch. Hopefully they'll be there before it's out of beta.

[GU-11]

No, I'll be fair and say it's about four hours each, so eight combined. Assuming its your first play through, and you don't skip any dialog or anything, anyway. You can easily go through ZOE 2 without saving in a single sitting if you know what you're doing, though.

Yeah, there is no way I could do ZOE 2 in THAT short a time while actually watching the story/scenes.. (Damn Vic Viper battle...)

40 USD (probably more where I'm at) for 8 hours of combined gameplay on 2 PS2-era games; still kinda pricy.

How's the replay value of these ZOE games? Not just extras and unlockables; is the game fun to play repeatedly? FOC only lasted at most 12 hours, but the gameplay is so addictive (transforming robots on a metal battlefield; nuff said) that I've probably been replaying it for over 60 hours, before starting on RE 6.

[mikeszekely]

40 USD (probably more where I'm at) for 8 hours of combined gameplay on 2 PS2-era games; still kinda pricy.

Yeah, that's kind of where I'm at on this. Maybe I'll wait for it to turn up for $10 on Newegg like I did with the Devil May Cry collection.

How's the replay value of these ZOE games? Not just extras and unlockables; is the game fun to play repeatedly? FOC only lasted at most 12 hours, but the gameplay is so addictive (transforming robots on a metal battlefield; nuff said) that I've probably been replaying it for over 60 hours, before starting on RE 6.

It's been a long, long time I since I played either ZOE. But from what I remember, the first one had some irritating bits that I think would keep me from really replaying it much. ZOE 2 is a lot more fun, but like I said, once you learn the game and start skipping dialog/cutscenes, a short game becomes a lot shorter. To get 60 hours out of the ZOE collection, you're going to have to replay ZOE 2 20 times, and that's assuming you replay the first one on occasion.

I think I'm down to Persona 4 Golden and Paper Mario Sticker Star are my only sure-thing games for the rest of the year. That being said, I'm sure I'll buy a game or two during Steam's annual holiday sale in December. I'm actually hoping to get Dishonored around then.

[Major Focker]

40 USD (probably more where I'm at) for 8 hours of combined gameplay on 2 PS2-era games; still kinda pricy.

How's the replay value of these ZOE games? Not just extras and unlockables; is the game fun to play repeatedly? FOC only lasted at most 12 hours, but the gameplay is so addictive (transforming robots on a metal battlefield; nuff said) that I've probably been replaying it for over 60 hours, before starting on RE 6.

think of it this way: there are people who have played ZOE2 to death years ago and yet were clamoring for a remake to do the exact same thing all over again.

there are extra missions that can be collected and will require at least two play-throughs to get them all.

there are also unlockable mechs that you can collect: different versions of Jehuty you can use in your next play-through, and various boss mechs that you can fight in Vs mode (1:1 ala Tekken) after completing the game.

there are a lot of subweapons that changes the "feel" of missions depending on which subweapons you bank on frequently, or which you restrict yourself from using.

then there are a couple of easter eggs, one of which made me replay a mission a good 10x or so. and what do i get? Marinaris stripping to her undies in the next cut scene

or you could just buy it and resell if you don't like it. check out the play-through videos on youtube so you get a feel if you're gonna like it or not.

[GU-11]

It's been a long, long time I since I played either ZOE. But from what I remember, the first one had some irritating bits that I think would keep me from really replaying it much. ZOE 2 is a lot more fun, but like I said, once you learn the game and start skipping dialog/cutscenes, a short game becomes a lot shorter. To get 60 hours out of the ZOE collection, you're going to have to replay ZOE 2 20 times, and that's assuming you replay the first one on occasion.

I think I'm down to Persona 4 Golden and Paper Mario Sticker Star are my only sure-thing games for the rest of the year. That being said, I'm sure I'll buy a game or two during Steam's annual holiday sale in December. I'm actually hoping to get Dishonored around then.

Could you elaborate a little more about those irritating parts? Is it like that damn "missile silo tunnel" mission in Ace Combat 5 that's so difficult to win that you actually dread playing the game? Took me two months and countless retries to finish the SOLG mission (that AC staple where you fly into a tunnel and shoot missiles inside the silos), and remains the only game save I'll never delete from my memory card, because I never want to go through it again.

If it is, I'm gonna have to pass, as there's no way I'm wasting money on a game I'd be afraid of playing for fear of losing my sanity.

Personally, I'm still wondering if I should skip this one and save the money for Hitman Absolution.

think of it this way: there are people who have played ZOE2 to death years ago and yet were clamoring for a remake to do the exact same thing all over again.

there are extra missions that can be collected and will require at least two play-throughs to get them all.

there are also unlockable mechs that you can collect: different versions of Jehuty you can use in your next play-through, and various boss mechs that you can fight in Vs mode (1:1 ala Tekken) after completing the game.

there are a lot of subweapons that changes the "feel" of missions depending on which subweapons you bank on frequently, or which you restrict yourself from using.

then there are a couple of easter eggs, one of which made me replay a mission a good 10x or so. and what do i get? Marinaris stripping to her undies in the next cut scene

or you could just buy it and resell if you don't like it. check out the play-through videos on youtube so you get a feel if you're gonna like it or not.

Sounds like some decent replay value, especially the VS mode. Just a little concerned about the iritating bits mikeszekely mentioned.

I hate getting stuck in a game and eventually give up. Feels like I've wasted my money on it.

BTW, there's not much of a resale market for games where I'm at. There's always ebay, but going through all that trouble is probably not worth it.

That parts about Marinari's undies is really tempting, though...

Edited November 1, 2012 by GU-11

[mikeszekely]

Could you elaborate a little more about those irritating parts? Is it like that damn "missile silo tunnel" mission in Ace Combat 5 that's so difficult to win that you actually dread playing the game? Took me two months and countless retries to finish the SOLG mission (that AC staple where you fly into a tunnel and shoot missiles inside the silos), and remains the only game save I'll never delete from my memory card, because I never want to go through it again.

If it is, I'm gonna have to pass, as there's no way I'm wasting money on a game I'd be afraid of playing for fear of losing my sanity.

No, I don't remember it being difficult or anything like that. Just tedious. Like the entire game takes place in one part of a colony thing, and you have to go back and forth through several areas to pick up new things, and there's not that many different types of enemies.

[frothymug]

Just coming back to give you guys a head's up that Planetside 2 is releasing on November 20th. It's going to be free-to-play, but you can use SOE's Station Cash to buy new weapons and sidegrades and the such.

Planetside 2 is the follow-up to one of the best MMOFPS games ever. Featuring three distinct factions constantly at war with each other over territory, there is always a fight going on somewhere. Battles can include hundreds of players fighting over a base or strategic resource node. Vehicle combat is a major portion of the game, including tanks, troop carriers, ATV's, light assault aircraft, bomber/gunships, and troop dropships. Outside of the vehicles, frantic first-person shooter action takes place inside and outside of bases. Certification points are earned through experience points and are the alternative to buying Station Cash for upgrades and sidegrades. Each troop class (Heavy assault, light assault, medic, engineer, infiltrator, and MAX unit (powered exosuit)) has a plethora of customization options that can be purchased with certification points. Want to add a reflex sight to your assault rifle? Want to increase your shield recharge rate and delay? Want to add grenade carrying capacity? Vehicle upgrades are purchased the same way, such as adding armor piercing shells for anti-vehicle specialization, or high-explosive shells for infantry ownage. You can equip your tanks with side, top, front, back, or mineguard armor. There are soooo many other upgrades that can be considered that all have their specialization and usage.

I'm a Planetside 1 veteran and I've been playing Planetside 2 in its beta stages for the last couple of months. The game is thoroughly enjoyable, especially when you are in a squad, since the game is very much team-oriented. Outfits are like guilds in MMORPG's, and instead of raiding, they perform ops missions. Nothing like rolling out with 25+ of your outfit mates to assault the nearby tech plant.

Check it out!

[one_klump]

I haven't seen any mention of Hawken It's like a mechwarrior light. More than just a FPS in mech skin.

Strike Suit Zero is nearing beta, and it is looking to scratch my quick and dirty space combat itch really good.

https://www.youtube....d&v=GAXqCQrW44I