the be all end all video game thread

The new Batman: Arkham Origins came free with a video card that I bought.

It's pretty, and the combat is fairly fun. I only played a demo of the first Arkham game but man, I will say that the vast majority of encounters demand close in, chaotic fist-fighting combat. In the first Arkham game demo, and my understanding of the series, is that you get a good variety of encounter types and can play your particular style. I'm not that far into the game, but there's just no option here - every bad guy encounter is a group of 5-10 in close range, stealth is not possible.

Some other oddities... It's clearly got a large number of moves and items that the game seems unwilling to introduce in any way. Like, I didn't know I had a controllable batarang, or how to use it. I ended up so frustrated in the first section that required it, I turned to Google, and found out about this toy. I'm following the story campaign, would it have been that hard to throw in a hint or a training session or something? I've also ended up at the end of several fights where I've had to run in circles and go in and out of an area before it'll recognize the fight as complete and trigger the event(s) afterwards.

 

My gut tells me the best bet is to hang on to the PS3 for a while. I don't think the PS4, from all that I've seen here and read online, is all that well thought out as far as interaction with the user. It may well kick ass graphics/game play wise, but with all the other nonsense that seems to be going on with it, I'm going to give it a minimum of 6 months of people screaming about the lack of functionality before I consider buying one.

I love my PS3, and Sony stuff in general, but it feels like they're really rushing the PS4 out.

 

Anyone else pick up Battlefield 4? Here's a quick first-thoughts review:

Huge improvement over BF3. Everything that was great about the gameplay in Bad Company 2 and realism of BF3 have been incorporated, as well as the return of the Commander mode from BF2. The HUD is muc less confusing (albeit a bit more cluttered) and the gameplay mechanics are drastically improved. Also added are some nice little features like unlockable Battlepacks that have randomized improvements. One of my favorites is the ammo loss system. If you're a player that typically reloads after each kill, you might think twice about it with this game. When you reload with say 10 bullets left in the mag, you lose those 10 bullets from your arsenal.

The downside is, this game stresses current gen systems to their maximum potential and even still the games graphics are cringeworthy at points and on large scale maps, the horizon draw distance is terrible. This game was made for next gen consoles and PCs and was basically ported backwards for PS3 and 360. Another odd thing was te dumbing down of the vehicle controls. I liked the dual joystick requirement to operate them, especially aircraft and the updated controls feels a little too easy and cheap. You can switch out to "veteran" controller mode, but it's more of an apology than a feature.

Overall it's a great game and worth picking up on current gen systems. Thankfully, when the next gen is released, you can upgrade for free for $10 and all stats will carryover.

 

Now that I'm about halfway through Arkham Origins, a few more thoughts:

I'm still stuck on the fact that you don't have a lot of options in the combat. There are "predator encounters" that occur in specifically designed rooms, where you have the option of doing stealth takedowns. These are fun, but infrequent. Most other encounters are in groups, so you only get one guy before the rest swarm you. It's too bad because the stealth sections have a lot more variety than taking out 10 enemies via Punch-Counter-Punch-Counter-Counter-Punch. A few changes would help - why can I only hang guys from a specifically designed gargoyle found in a few unique rooms? Why do I have no control over whether I hang off the side of a building or automatically climb up onto the roof when I hook onto the edge?

There's virtually no point in burning upgrades on stealth outside a few specifically useful ones, since they're mostly not that valuable. You're going to be doing so much hand-to-hand combat, the upgrades in that line are a lot more useful.

Also, I don't generally think I'm a dumb person, but there have been a number of times where the next step in the story isn't obvious. Not puzzle solving, but just "I have a goal, but I don't know where that goal is." It's not helped by the fact that there are a lot of side rooms in buildings that contain collectible trinkets, so you'll think you discovered the exit or next step, but actually are just chasing down Meaningless Item 6 of 42.

Overall, though, it's fun. Navigating the city by swooping and hooking is great, and much more enjoyable than fast-traveling. The stealth encounters, though I wish there were more, are lots of fun and full of options. Hand-to-hand is mostly enjoyable. The characters are varied.

One quick note if you have trouble with Deathstroke:

Spoiler

It's an annoying and drawn-out fight, no doubt about it. You can't go on the offensive. However, you also can't just wait it out and counter for one hit every time, which was my problem - you have to counter and then hit him at least 2-3x, otherwise the fight lasts too long and he just wears you out. Stay next to him so he attacks and provides the opportunity to counter, then string together a few hits.