The Bill's Now Playing Video Game Thread (Now with Bames)

[riley-o]

The only thing I thought Arkham City was lacking vs Asylum was the novelty of how fucking awesome the gameplay was. I thought City did everything better than Asylum, it just wasn't that shocking response of "holy fuck this is new and different and SO FUN" that you got from Asylum. I loved just flying around Arkham City and seeing things to do on the minimap.

[Wang Mandu]

Agreed. When I played that demo for Arkham Asylum I couldn't believe a studio had made a not just competent but completely awesome super hero game. I am addicted to Arkham City now and love the sidequests and extra content. I deserve a punch in the gut for saying this but Talia's tight ass was mesmerizing . It's kind of insane how many Riddler trophies and rooms there are but I hope I don't have to do all of them to finish his storyline.

I don't get the Origins reviews either. Like TheBill said, yearly titles don't have problems scoring well and it has been almost two years since Arkham City came out. I guess it's easier to shit on a game from a new studio than an established one. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Super Mario Galaxy II "more of the same" yet that scored through the roof? Assassin's Creed, FIFA, WWE games, etc etc. Reviews.

I absolutely agree it suffered from bigger is better. I would have LOVED another small-world Arkham-ish story.

They could totally do this with different characters and I can't believe they haven't. Do a few small games, $15-30 digital titles with Robin (Batman's a real dick to him in AC), Nightwing, Batgirl whoever and have them tie into a mainline Batman game.

Edit: One thing I loved about my hour or two with Origins is people don't know who Batman is. He's still a mystery and they cower in fear when they see him. I hope those kind of touches continue throughout the game.

[riley-o]

I deserve a punch in the gut for saying this but Talia's tight ass was mesmerizing

We all said it, man. Each and every one of us.

[Wang Mandu]

Whew, I feel much better.

Oracle sure is catty when Batman mentions Talia.

[riley-o]

I just went back and read the Arkham City thread and there I am talking about how much of a letdown it was. ??

i would've given arkham asylum an 8 or 8.5 probably (i think i loved it less than most people although it was a very very good game) but this one is like a 6.5 or 7.

Right now I'm remembering the game so fondly. I don't fucking understand my brain

[spacehamster]

I deserve a punch in the gut for saying this but Talia's tight ass was mesmerizing

We all said it, man. Each and every one of us.

[spacehamster]

This is totally just more of the same with a weaker story so far, but that's fine.

I watched some footage just now, and it sort of made me want to play it, but more like in the way that I thought I should fire up one of the first two.

In addition to what you said about the armor in City - I've already more or less said this, but the stealth levels in Asylum were just so, so expertly put together. Each one of them had a specific added challenge to it so that they never felt the same, you always had to apply what the game had taught you up to that point and then think outside of the box somehow to tackle the new challenge. Aside from the more obvious stuff, that was probably my favorite aspect of the game, and it was completely missing from City. Maybe I'm just an old fart with my obsession with linear progression and getting better at the game really being the fun part, I dunno.

[FVBTVS]

I don't fucking understand my brain

[Wang Mandu]

Playing this is reminding me of the biggest thing they fucked up on between AA and AC. In AA there were stealth levels-- sections that if you got shot, that was it. In the AC thy introduced ballistic armor and made getting shot less of a big deal even if you DIDN'T power up that armor all the way. Same here. So there's this sloppy line between stealth and fight sections where you can totally half-ass the stealth.

Anyway, still happy I bought this. I like being Batman in these games. This is totally just more of the same with a weaker story so far, but that's fine.

Dude....the Deathstroke fight was fucking awesome and better than a lot of the boss fights in AA and AC. Although, Mr. Freeze in AC remains the best overall boss fight for me. If the stealth is too easy, play on Hard. I hate one shot and you're dead stealth sections as I think you should have the chance to escape and regroup. I've heard the story really kicks it up in the second half so don't let the slow beginning get to you. The combat is definitely harder than the previous games and fits well with young, inexperienced Batman. I'm finally getting the hang of how quick the counters come and am tearing mooks up left and right now.

I've played about 5 hours and I'd put the game on equal footing (minus a small lack of polish the previous two had) with AA and AC. The music is so, so good and I like angrier, more violent Batman.

[copstache]

I just went back and read the Arkham City thread and there I am talking about how much of a letdown it was. ??

i would've given arkham asylum an 8 or 8.5 probably (i think i loved it less than most people although it was a very very good game) but this one is like a 6.5 or 7.

Right now I'm remembering the game so fondly. I don't fucking understand my brain

it's not just you, the game is much better in hindsight than it was to play through. there were lulls between the good parts and some genuinely frustrating parts, but those are the ones you forget first

asylum was still better

[doomeddisciple]

My only issue with Asylum was that the Killer Croc battle did not at all live up to the promise that was made in that awesome opening sequence when the Croc is getting moved around on the lift. That and the penultimate battle was harder than the Joker battle at the end. The last God of War game reminded me of that with the trial of archemedis being way tougher than the giant Kraken battle at the end.
Otherwise Asylum was utterly superb.

I loved City because of the scale of upping the ante with most of the main Bat-villains having their own area of the city and the facitonal thing and the other stuff you have all said already about traversing the joint.

I haven't been excited about the new one since I saw some early video and watched some gameplay footage on the Rev 3 youtube channel cause it was just beating up cops or SWAT guys - Corrupt or not - They're not the kind of Batman nemesis or classic uniformed henchmen of the more kitsch Batmean era goons - I guess I will check it out at some point but I'm not feeling the need to rush out and play it as it kinda struck me on the surface as playing a Metal Gear game with Batman.

[valgalder]

bought a Neo Geo again... couldn't believe I found the "Goldie" cab in my neighborhood and is almost perfect condition.

[spacehamster]

Last weekend's Steam impulse buys:

DX:HR Director's Cut: Still looks like ass. Faces are a bit less embarrassingly angular, near as I can tell, but it performs like absolute dogshit. No amount of fiddling made the framerate stop stuttering. Gave up for the time being.

Metro Last Light: I never got very far in the first one, but this... this I might like.

[kickpuncher]

nice grab on that Neo Geo! i'm hoping to find a Mini for myself, but craigslist seems pretty dry on the Geo front. how'd you find that one?

[guardianoftheblind]

Metro Last Light: I never got very far in the first one, but this... this I might like.

first one is way better

[abdominalpillaging]

Fucking a valgalder, that thing is sick. I see a goldie on craigslist around here all the time. Theyre asking $1200 for it and its in really rough shape. Yours looks either restored very well or brand new. Congrats!

Also, im going to post a link to my shitty wordpress site i started to try and get some more business modding retro consoles. If someone wants and rgb nes or something hit me up http://www.dennisretromods.com

[Wang Mandu]

Goddammit Deadly Premonition PC is locked to 720p and has no graphical options. Do I wait for modders to fix a lazy effort or try to get a highly unlikely refund from Steam? Fucking Japanese devs. What, do you program games on TVs from a decade ago?

[Wang Mandu]

The setting is pretty cool for ACIV but I know the gameplay is going to be shallow and completely unmemorable, like more Ubisoft games. Do they still do those retarded modern day / future parts?

Jim Sterling's 3.5 score review of Arkham Origins is absurd. Like I said before, it's super easy for reviewers to grade lower on a game from a relatively unknown studio and publisher. They'll never give a COD or Assassin's Creed game that low of a score despite them doing the same thing over and over and over (they'd be crazy not to with how well those sell every year). I started to like him because of his Jimquisition videos and random thoughts and articles about gaming but his reviews are still clickbait bullshit.

These boss battles are way, way better than the previous two games. The series still has a lot of unfulfilled potential with how stealth and combat scenarios play out so I hope Rocksteady is upping everything for the next game. I wish the detective sections were completely hands off....plop Batman into a murder scene and let me figure things out instead of highlighting the important scan points but that is modern hold my hand because it's broken if it's challenging game design. There's a taste of that in the rewind/fast foward parts but they need to take it even further.

Agreed on the drug parts. The Scarecrow was so cool in AA but the Mad Hatter section in AC was really stupid. Alfred says I'll let you know when we drop off the cure only for the "cure" to magically appear on the map. Batman, the idiot he is, decides to open it and get drugged. Some detective.

[Wang Mandu]

All games are cash grabs, it's an entertainment product and not a singular piece of art. Yearly sequels are cash grabs but they wouldn't make them if people didn't buy them. Why wouldn't Activision make a COD every year when they continually sell 15+ million copies? There's enough space in the Batman universe to tell stories every few years and I think this time period is a pretty cool one to have as a good Batman game set in the early years of his career hasn't been done.

It is a bit buggier than previous games and they do need to fix one of the Riddler tower glitches pronto. But, I'm having a blast playing it and I think I watched maybe one gameplay video before release?

[The Bill]

I'm seeing reviews for Battlefield 4. I don't really play any military shooters, but a lot of reviews I read are saying, "Well, of course the single player sucks, but that's not what the game is about..." Do you all think that's valid? I just wonder why they even bother with a campaign at this point when it seems like anyone who loves the game could care less about it and the people making the game apparently think of it as an afterthought.

On this note, Friday after playing Suffering for awhile, I wanted a change of pace and threw on Modern Warfare 3 (which is really COD 7 or something). Now, I have to tell you I was drunk and I haven't played this kind of FPS in a long time, and I actually enjoyed myself. Granted, I only played a few levels. I'm not going to suddenly white knight these kind of games based one positive experience, but I'm done ragging on these games because it dawned on my that they are just a big budget, highly graphically polished mini-game/party collection. Think about it, it comes packed with a whole assortment of multi-player modes, co-op modes, sometimes a zombie or alien game, and a single player mode. Expectations on the single-player are at this point are buyer beware, as it would be like getting mad at Mario Party because the turtle shell racing part* was the same thing in every game. They need to be thought of as the same kind of FPS genre as Unreal Tournament or Quake 3: Arena. Yes, we'd like it to have a proper full blown single-player adventure, but really it's there to be played when you're waiting to play with a friend. On top of that, compared to the Mario Parties or Unreal Tournament of the world it does try to offer a single player experience that more than a tutorial.

* I have no idea if Mario Party has turtle shell racing

[spacehamster]

Fuck multiplayer.

[The Bill]

Fuck multiplayer.

[DR. THRAXX]

bought a Neo Geo again... couldn't believe I found the "Goldie" cab in my neighborhood and is almost perfect condition.

Fuck, I'm envious.

I saw an Egret II for sale some what locally, but the dude was asking over a grand for it, with no boards. I really don't know where he came up with the number, but it's not listed on Craigslist anymore.

[Wang Mandu]

Well, yes, I do get that technically every game is a cash grab. I'm speaking of when a company outsources a popular IP to an inexperienced company so the A team can work on the next gen game instead of just letting water seek its own level and getting the game out when its done. Origins is a stop-gap. It's a fun stop-gap, but I would have been ok if they just had Rocksteady working on the next gen game and left it at that. There's a lot of criticism to be leveled at games like Uncharted, but I never felt Naughty Dog was ever going to out-source Uncharted 3 so they could have the REAL developers working on a number four.

Oh, I didn't mean you. I meant the bloggers and their ilk bitching about cash grabs when they play these games for free, lol. Makes sense to me why they'd have that studio make it as it's a new WB owned studio. Have a new team work on an established property to get their feet wet while the main studio is working on the next gen version of the IP. I would have been okay without a third Arkham game and certainly didn't need one but I'm quite happy I have it now and hopefully Rocksteady can expand on some of the new ideas in this one.

I really hope Rocksteady doesn't add Superman to the next Batman game. Superman sucks.

[spacehamster]

Colonial Marines is down to 5 Euros because of Steam's Halloween sale.

God help me.