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Gaming 2012


packoman

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How's Dishonored Chindie? I'm thinking of trading some stuff in and picking it up sometime next week. I've seen the GameTrailers review and I'm pretty much sold but just wondered what you thought as you're normally pretty good at telling it like it is.

I've only managed to put in about an hour, completing the prologue in that time, so I can't give any particularly brilliant in depth impressions but, on that hour... it's a corker. The opening leaves you without any of the supernatural powers the game has shown off, like the blink ability, so I can't say for sure how they will alter my feeling about it, but that hour was just fun. Theres a clear degree of flexibility on how you want to approach things from the get go. I, a little unusually for me, went for a true stealth run through and found that be a fun experience rather than the tiresome trial and error stealth games can be, but equally I could tell that the game was entirely prepared to let me go guns blazing (or...er... swords swiping?), and theres definitely scope in that prologue for a true ghost run (the holy grail of stealth games, completing a level without being seen or even touching a guard, so no stealth knockouts). I found myself leaning round corners like it was second nature, checking through keyholes before any door, sneaking up behind guards and picking their pockets before choking them and stashing the body. It just felt good, the controls are tight and simple.

It's won me round to the look of the thing too. I was always a fan of the art design but I wasn't so sure about the cartoony style that they'd taken it in. However, playing it... I'm much more of a fan. The game has a painterly feel, and also a significant feeling of a graphic novel in motion. The only thing really letting it down is a few grim textures, something I noticed instantly on the game's opening. The boat you open the game on has some absolutely awful texture work on it, incredibly low resolution. I did start to ignore that very quickly though, it only stood out at that moment as you start in an on-rails section and my immediate reaction on a game beginning like that is to look around and check out the look and quality of things. In motion you don't notice, and I do wonder if the textures are a result of their trying to get that watercolour look to everything, or if it's a result of them trying to optimise things to get it running well on consoles. Or a little of both. Either way it's not a deal breaker and the game overall looks fantastic.

The details and atmosphere are bang on too. Even in the short time I've had with it the game is immediately reminding me of the later Discworld novels (helped by what must surely be a nod to the inspiration they've had, tins of 'Pratchett Jellied Eels' are everywhere in the game) and also China Meiville's New Crobuzon books, and a little Gormenghast in there too. Theres just something about this fantastical Georgian/Victorian steampunk setting I love, and they are laying on the lore and building on the world from the get go, you're finding notes and 'audiograms' from the first minute. Perhaps the only downside to all that is I now desperately want a latter day Discworld novel to get a game made.

I don't think the story is going to be anything earth shattering but I'm already liking the details the game has and there are hints at things to come already, rats are a recurring motif and are certainly also going to be puzzle orientated. You encounter a (very simple) optional objective early on involving a safe which is absolutely nothing special but still left me grinning as an obvious little nod to game having wanting to have little details catch your eye.

I'm really looking forward to playing more and opening up the potential it has.

Halo 4 is pretty decent! Graphically much better then previous editions of the game and the single player is quite fun too!

You're playing it?

Guess that leak is proving useful to some already.

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You're playing it?

Guess that leak is proving useful to some already.

Yeah went all over the web yesterday, some people have actually been playing on XBLive too haha... think the majority of them are getting console/profile banned.

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I spent about 4 hours, total, doing the first mission proper of Dishonored last night and today. Testament to how enjoyable the game manages to be. It wasn't like the game had massive multiple missions making up the overall mission, the reality of those 4 hours was a fairly straightforward assassination, with associated infiltration and escape, and a single sidequest. I was driven to be totally stealthy though and managed no kills, and had my heart set on collecting all the upgrade items scattered about, and also completing the nonlethal route of dispatching the target.

Managed it, and deeply satisfying it was too. It's really unusual for me to enjoy stealthing a game and feel driven to being as stealthy as possible, but the game really encourages it and makes it fairly straight forward, without making the options ridiculously obvious. I'm not sure if I'll stick to such a pure stealth approach to the game, as the toys it provides you with a clearly with the aim of making offing enemies as fun and efficient an experience as possible, but I'm really enjoying it all the same.

A few more tech niggles have revealed themselves, predominately occasional heavy frame rate stutters, usually in cutscenes, so no greatly big deal.

I recommend it heartily.

Doom 3 BFG Edition is out this week, which I may have to get hold of as I hold a strange love for Doom 3 despite it's failings, and my PC isn't in a fit state to hack it any more.

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Cheers Chindie, I purposefully didn't get it over the weekend because I had a test on Monday but now that's out of the way I'm definitely trading some games in to get it. I like the Bioshock-like graphics and the gameplay just looks like a hell of fun. I really enjoyed Deus Ex: HR and love choice-based games in general because they're a lot of fun and very satisfying if implemented well. They also have lots of replayability too so you gt your money's worth. I think I'll pick it up in the next couple of days.

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I completed episode 4 of The Walking Dead last night. The set up for the finale is a good one, and the story remains as absorbing as ever. Very very few games ever have evoked such a sense of care for the characters as this. I'm eager to have a second run through of ep4 with my other save, as there seems to be some pretty major changes you can make to what will be the start of ep5.

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  • 1 month later...

I picked up an iPad last week with the main intention of using it for board/word games (instead of my iPhone), and I really haven't been disappointed at all - it's fantastic for the purpose. Some of my favourites:

Neuroshima Hex! / Neuroshima Hex! Puzzle

Ingenious

Qin

Ticket To Ride

Khet

Letterpress

Spelltower

Words HD

If you're on the fence about getting one for the same reason and have the cash, go for it.

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This is more like Gaming 2013, but Dark Souls II announced!

http://www.darksoulsii.com/

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/12/08/dark-souls-ii-announced

The trailer keeps going up on YT and getting ripped down almost instantly, but if you're diligent you might find it elsewhere. There's a div for youtube in the code, though, so I imagine they'll be posting it officially at some point.

Some people are thinking prequel, based on some of the stuff shown in the trailer, but From usually doesn't directly connect their games, just little things here and there. Cannot wait for more.

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This is more like Gaming 2013, but Dark Souls II announced!

http://www.darksoulsii.com/

http://www.ign.com/a...ls-ii-announced

The trailer keeps going up on YT and getting ripped down almost instantly, but if you're diligent you might find it elsewhere. There's a div for youtube in the code, though, so I imagine they'll be posting it officially at some point.

Some people are thinking prequel, based on some of the stuff shown in the trailer, but From usually doesn't directly connect their games, just little things here and there. Cannot wait for more.

f6f.gif

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The Dark Souls II trailer has sent loads of people into a mad deep thought, severely analysing every snippet of info they can get. It's fantastic. What I think we can make of it is that it's possibly a prequel to Dark Souls, it looks as though it's the age of humanity, as opposed to the age of demons and age of fire from the previous games. The dragons remain a bit of a mystery though. Initially I was surprised that they went with the 'Dark Souls' name, but seeing humans in the trailer changed my mind. Miyazaki has so much story to tell and so much lore to give, they could produce this series for eternity.

Lordran seems to be in the trailer too, people are guessing that it'll be the human journey to Lordran . It's all just guessing though. Either way, it's just going to be awesome. Can't wait. It's maybe a little surprising that it's coming to current gen consoles considering the scale of areas they tried to work with in DS, the insane draw distance in Blighttown for example that had frame rate issues, but I imagine they learnt a lot of lessons from that. I have a feeling this game started production possibly even when DS was still in production, so It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't too far off.

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  • 1 month later...

Below are the 100 best selling games of 2012, from MCV. Of the 100, 41 were released before 2012, and there are only 5 new IPs for 2012 in the whole thing, if you count Wonderbook. The others are Sleeping Dogs, Dishonored, Kingdoms of Amalur and Rocksmith.

1. Call Of Duty: Black Ops II – Activision Blizzard

2. FIFA 13 – Electronic Arts

3. Assassin’s Creed III – Ubisoft

4. Halo 4 – Microsoft

5. Hitman Absolution – Square Enix

6. Just Dance 4 – Ubisoft

7. Far Cry 3 – Ubisoft

8. FIFA 12 – Electronic Arts

9. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Bethesda Softworks

10. Borderlands 2 – 2K Games

11. Mass Effect 3 – Electronic Arts

12. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes – WB Games

13. Need For Speed: Most Wanted – Electronic Arts

14. FIFA Street – Electronic Arts

15. Mario & Sonic At The London 2012 Olympic Games – Sega

16. Skylanders Giants – Activision Blizzard

17. Battlefield 3 – Electronic Arts

18. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Activision Blizzard

19. Max Payne 3 – Rockstar Games

20. Sleeping Dogs – Square Enix

21. Resident Evil 6 – Capcom

22. London 2012 – The Official Video Game Of The Olympic Games – Sega

23. Ghost Recon: Future Soldier – Ubisoft

24. Dishonored – Bethesda Softworks

25. WWE ‘13 – THQ

26. Lego The Lord Of The Rings – WB Games

27. Forza Motorsport 4 – Microsoft

28. New Super Mario Bros. 2 – Nintendo

29. Medal Of Honor: Warfighter – Electronic Arts

30. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations – Ubisoft

31. Just Dance 3 – Ubisoft

32. Mario Kart 7 – Nintendo

33. F1 2012 – Codemasters

34. Batman: Arkham City – WB Games

35. Football manager 2013 – Sega

36. Super Mario 3D Land – Nintendo

37. Forza Horizon – Microsoft

38. Saints Row: The Third – THQ

39. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure – Activision Blizzard

40. Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 – WB Games

41. Sniper Elite V2 – 505 Games

42. Sonic Generations – Sega

43. Rayman Origins – Ubisoft

44. Final Fantasy XIII-2 – Square Enix

45. Dead Island Game Of The Year Edition – Koch Media

46. Zumba Fitness – 505 Games

47. The Amazing Spider-Man – Activision Blizzard

48. Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Theme Park – Mind Candy

49. Lego Pirates Of The Caribbean – Disney Interactive

50. SSX – Electronic Arts

51. Kinect Star Wars – Microsoft

52. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 – Electronic Arts

53. Moshi Monsters: Moshling Zoo – Mind Candy

54. The Sims 3 – Electronic Arts

55. Zumba Fitness 2 – 505 Games

56. Call Of Duty: Black Ops – Activision Blizzard

57. Need For Speed: The Run – Electronic Arts

58. Prototype 2 – Activision Blizzard

59. Diablo III – Activision Blizzard

60. Mario Kart Wii – Nintendo

61. Rage – Bethesda Softworks

62. UFC Undisputed 3 – THQ

63. WWE ‘12 – THQ

64. Cars 2 – Disney Interactive

65. Metal Gear Solid HD Collection – Konami

66. Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 – Konami

67. Skate 3 – Electronic Arts

68. Grand Theft Auto Episodes: Liberty City – Rockstar Games

69. Football Manager 2012 – Sega

70. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception – Sony

71. Pokémon Black 2 – Nintendo

72. Darksiders II – THQ

73. Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 – WB Games

74. Mario Party 9 – Nintendo

75. Kinect Sports – Microsoft

76. F1 2011 – Codemasters

77. Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning – Electronic Arts

78. Gran Turismo 5 – Sony

79. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed – Sega

80. uDraw Studio: Instant Artist – THQ

81. Grand Theft Auto IV – Rockstar Games

82. Professor Layton And The Miracle Mask – Nintendo

83. Angry Birds Trilogy – Activision Blizzard

84. Kinect Disneyland Adventures – Microsoft

85. Lego Batman: The Videogame – WB Games

86. Lego Star Wars III: Clone Wars – WB Games

87. Pokémon White 2 – Nintendo

88. Toy Story 3 – Disney Interactive

89. Guild Wars 2 – NCsoft

90. The Sims 3: Pets – Electronic Arts

91. Uncharted: Golden Abyss – Sony

92. Doom 3: BFG Edition – Bethesda Softworks

93. Rocksmith – Ubisoft

94. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City – Capcom

95. Wii Fit Plus – Nintendo

96. Wonderbook: Book Of Spells – Sony

97. Dance Central 2 – Microsoft

98. Dirt Showdown – Codemasters

99. 007 Legends – Activision Blizzard

100. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary – Microsoft

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