Glad to see some good reviews of this, Rome: Total War was my introduction to the Total War series and is still one of my favorite games. I tried playing Napoleon and Empire but just couldn't get into them, so I'm really looking forward to playing this one. Gotta finish DA2 first, though.
So I'm at the third act of DAII, so I have a few more thoughts. I like that I feel like I can use more characters than DA:O. In DA:O, I chose my party early (usually Lelianna, Alistair, and Wynne) and rarely used anyone else. In DA2, I've used every single character much more often, both because they're useful and to build relationships (which in DA:O could be done with just gift giving and nothing else). At the same time, all the characters are still archetypes, which makes some of them redundant. Varric and Sebastian (who you only get through DLC) might as well be the same character in battles, as they're both archers. You can develop them slightly differently, but their main skills are pretty much the same, so it is a matter of whom you'd prefer to bring. If you did a two-handed rogue build (like I did), you find Isabella to be useless because she is the same build, and having two two-handed rogue builds means you lack a ranged attacker (assuming you're using a tank). There is only one tank in the game (Aveline), so plan to use her on every single mission. If you must have a healer, there is only one of those, too (Anders). If you want a "traditional party" of a tank, healer, Melee DPS, and ranged DPS, you'll always have to have Aveline and Anders in your party, unless you are the healer or tank (and I think we've established that playing as the tank can suck). Luckily, more often than not, I've been able to get by without a healer. At least DA:O had multiple tank options (as you could make Sten or Shale a tank, or Oghren if you really wanted) and multiple healer options (You could easily build Morrigan into a healer if desired). The builds are limited because they come with a character archetype in mind, and you can't change it. You can't make Fenris into a tank or turn Merrill into a healer (they're literally not options for skills), which both encourages you to use more characters but also limits you. Finally, there are multiple glitches that you can take advantage of to cheat and become mega-powerful, if anyone is interested: Glitch 1: In a quest where you find an item and return it to it's owner, you can get infinite money and XP. Go up to the person you're returning the item too (note that there can't be a cut scene for this to work), with your weapon out. When the character goes to put his weapon away, talk to the person during that animation. If you did it right, and don't move, you can keep hitting X and they'll keep rewarding you over and over. I did this once and it actually worked. I'd have done it more but I wanted my first play through to not involve cheap cheating tactics. If you're looking for a short cut, though, this works. Glitch 2: It is easy to get free ability points with the "Makers Sigh" item from the Black Emporium. When you use it, it removes all ability points and attribute points. However, Hawke comes pre-set with certain abilities and attribute points when you start. Just use Makers Sigh, then save. Reload from that save, and you'll get those skills back, but still have the skill points. The result is getting something like 2 or 3, maybe more, skill points. Again, I've tried it and it worked, but I didn't keep that character. Basically, with these two glitches, you can have a super-character before the first act is over, and breeze through the rest of the game. I expect that they'll have a patch out to fix them within a couple days, however. After I beat it, I just want to see what the level cap is, so I'll probably cheat my ass of for a play through just for kicks.
Do you feel like the depth of combat strategy has been scaled down somewhat or just some of the more bloat features from Empire ? I remember seeing some previews for "hero" units or whatever that seemed semi-mythical...led me to believe that they might be taking it a different direction. Does it feel like Shogun and Rome TW? I'll still end up getting it after my next PC build because the setting is just awesome. I'm taking a premodern Japanese history course right now and I want to be a badass Tokugawa daiymo. How's the AI? Notice any bugs yet?
I don't suppose anyone here has given Homefront a try yet, particularly the multiplayer? I've heard reviews that range all over the map, all from people whose opinions I hold in high regard. What do you guys think? Pros? Cons? This is what Hutch wrote about it today on his Facebook page: Although I put more stock into Hutch's feedback than I do with other YouTube guys, I'd like to get a more in-depth review than that before I just drop $60. Call of Duty is the FPS that I have the most experience with. Outside of that franchise, I've dabbled a bit with Bad Company 2...and fucking hated it. Depending on how Homefront compares to those, I'll have a better idea of how much I'd end up enjoying it.
I just bought Nocturne last night so I've only done one match with him, but he is a beast. The first half of the match I was getting used to his abilities so I was like 2-5-5 but after I got the hang of it and some items I think I ended up like 10-5-9. I recommend him totally.
For those interested, the crysis 2 demo was released for PS3 on Thursday. Here are some details that I noticed while playing: The radar is in a bad position and takes some getting used to. There is a weighty feel that is similar to Killzone. Energy management is very important since sprinting, stealth, and armoour are all linked to this. I felt very vulnerable when the meter was at 0. You are still partially visible when using stealth. I learned this the hard way as I walked into an enemy and was killed while trying to aim for a head shot. If you fire a bullet while in stealth mode, your energy meter automatically depletes to 0, I really like this as it should prevent abuse of the feature. I haven't run into any campers, but it may be because this is a demo and stats will probably be reset. The maps have a lot of vertical elements, encouraging you to jump and climb things. The melee system is unreliable. I used the knife a lot in COD and this new system is irritating. Your helmet has a heat vision option and I believe it can detect enemy players using stealth. I'm not 100% sure, but I think if I kill someone, I am the only one who can pick up the dog tag for the killstreak. I unlocked the custom class and am having a lot of fun with it. There is a proximity alarm perk that helps me to know when I should turn on stealth and look for a nearby enemy. I'm also trying to get into the habit of turning armour on before entering a gunfight. I have heard that people are having connection issues and experiencing framerate drops. I had connection problems on day 1, and noticed a framerate drop when an enemy activated an orbital strike near me once. Other than that, things have been smoothe for me. The PS3 version is being criticized for its graphics, but I have a crappy TV and was satisfied with Black Ops, so I didn't have any gripes. Overall, I am happy with the demo and will not be cancelling my preorder. Its a nice change from COD and the single player campaign is supposed to be 15-20 hours long. The ability to have vehicles and drones turned me off of this game. Also, the maps appear to be very large and I don't like having to hike long distances from spawn points to get back into the action.
Nope, the decisions you make policy-wise have a definite impact now. I captured two trade routes early in the game and plunked down some foreign traders in my cities, no biggie right? Ten turns later half my population has converted to Christianity and they're pissed. So I decide to convert my entire clan, cue every Buddhist in Japan not liking me anymore. etc etc The biggest improvement I've seen has been the campaign map AI, it's smart, bold, and to be honest it's very likely at this point in my game that the Takeda clan will "win". The AI uses ninjas, and fleets to great effect. So far the AI is my favorite part of the game, I like a challenge. I haven't unlocked any hero units yet, so I'll let you know. They did go all RPG with generals which is pretty cool, you can assign skill points after every rank-up and they gain random traits.
Was looking for some fun, simple games to kill time while I waited for big releases, and I ran into Super Meat Boy. I regret finding this game so much. It's really fun, addicting, and really fucking i-wanna-pull-my-hair-out hard in some instances. I haven't raged at a game this hard since I was a little kid playing street fighter against Vega (I suck at fighters). Still though, If you're looking for a straightforward time killer, SMB is an excellent choice. The end of this video pretty much sums up most of my experience with some levels. Took me about 2 hours to beat that level. Fuck this game.
Yeah, I'm still whoring this game. I can't put it down, I'm about to play it right now actually. Yeah, they keep evolving and balancing the game. Ryze is now a "magic carry" and people are scared to use him because he requires more skill and focus. I had to take a break from him. The new champions are ridiculously awesome. I can't believe how they keep coming up with new ideas and none of the are recycled.
I'm still on at least once a day. I've been tearing people apart with my end game Tryndamere, too. Even if my team loses, I would be the only guy on my team in the positive, usually a 2:1 ratio since my crits hit for at least 1000 end game. If I'm allowed to get my lifesteal stuff and my armor pen, then I'm unstoppable. If someone on the other team doesn't buy armor, then there's a fair chance that I'll 2 shot them when my crits pop for 1300 each coupled with at least a 75% crit chance. I've played against that new Nocturnal guy once and wooped on him, but his ult is pretty interesting. It kind of dims the map for a good 5 seconds and dude can teleport to your location within a reasonable distance. I couldn't really tell what his other things did because he kept dying so fast...he wasn't very good at playing him, probably because the champ just came out.
His ult is insane if he's palying in a good team. Isolates everyone in the battlefield and allows for some great stealth ganking. I was playing against one who was pretty good at it. Every once in a while my screen would dim for a while and when my sight came back, none of the enemy team was visible and 1-2 of my teammates were dead.
DA2 story spoilers ahead, bit of a rant: Spoiler Jesus Christ what a letdown of an ending. As anyone knows who played it, the underlining story throughout the game is the brewing conflict between the mages and the templars. Long story short, in the last mission of the game, you're given a final choice: defend the templars or defend the mages. Either way, it ends with Varric saying "yeah, so, he's gone, and we split up. That's about it," followed by a brief scene setting up Dragon Age 3 and probably 4. It was so anti-climactic, it was extremely disappointing. The final battle in DA:O felt epic, as you're fighting a big-ass archdemon dragon. In DA2, the final battle felt boring in comparison. The ending of DA:O was much better, as well. There was an actual sense of completion. Even if it was just text, you were told what happened to characters and what affect your decisions had. In DA2, it just ends. We don't know what happens to any party members after the game ends, except Varric, who is apparently dragged in to tell the story. He literally just says "everyone else went their own way." The ONLY reason for this is that they plan to release a bunch of DLC to tell those stories, or maybe an Awakenings-esque DLC. Otherwise, it is just laziness on the part of the game studio. They clearly set it up for DA3 to take place in the city of Orlais, as there are lots of little hints about unrest in Orlais, like a potential war with Ferelden, and Bodhan and Sandal going to Orlais. Since they are sort of like the R2D2 and C3PO of the Dragon Age universe, I think its safe to say DA3 will take place there. DA4 will probably be about some epic war between Orlais, Ferelden, and maybe the Free Marches or just Kirkwall. At least, that is what was heavily hinted at. It could also be all three countries having to team up to face a looming threat from the Teventer Imperium. That could potentially set up an awesome game where you play as all three heroes from the previous games. Since Bioware likes to split their games into 3 acts, act 1 could follow the hero of Ferelden in their preparations for the war, while act 2 follows Hawke, and act 3 follows whomever is the hero of DA3, followed by some dramatic final chapter with all three groups meeting up. There is potential, but I felt like DA2 was designed to set things up rather than tell a complete story itself. As a set up for future titles, DA2 did it's job in spades. As a stand-alone story with a clear ending, it failed miserably.
I've still been playing League. I switched to Jax a few weeks ago and have gotten good at him. Max out your life leech and spell vamp and get a decent attack speed[his attack speed keeps going up the more you attack] and it's pretty much game over. It seems once you get to the higher levels you need to have pre-made teams to win consistently. I've joined a few just through the looking for group chat and it made for quick games.
There is something wrong with this game, once you cross level 25, everything goes to shit. You start running into more foreign players and they suck, especially the Brazilians. They rather trash talk their own team then win. Also, I've lost more games at level 25+ where my team didn't get one tower down because everyone kept towerdiving and trying to killwhore like KDR really matters in the game. The extremes have just shifted, people are who they are. Either you're going to have a dominant game, or you're going to get raped. PenetrationStation and I are on and play a lot. I've been adding people I've met in game that have shown signs of competence and communication skills. Most of the time I try to go into games with at least 2 people I know. Get up to level 30, the weather is stormy up here... Killzone 3 is fun, but BF3 is looking really fucking good from the arcadedy MP standpoint. KZ is tactical as fuck, which is rewarding, but after an hour you're tired. I think EA realized how badly they shit the bed with MOH and how worse Activision shit the bed with B.O. and had to fill the void MW2 is leaving.
Yeah at one time I had way more wins than losses and way more wins than most people my level but the last week or so has fixed that. At one time I think I had a 9 or 10 game winning streak but now it's like I win 1 out of 3. My name is HammsBurglar if you wanna add me.
Just found some new crysis footage I thought I'd share. It shows a lot of the nanosuit powers that are available. A nice feature is the radio that updates you with enemy sightings when you respawn.
Apparently the game has a habit of punishing you if you get too good and go on streaks. The only way this can be prevented is if you play every game with 4 other great players. Otherwise the game will match you up with a shitty fucking team, vs a pro team. I've had to say "You know the point of the game is to get towers down right?" way too many times at level 30.
I haven't played in a bit and would like to try the new champ soon, not much time lately though... They really need to end "season 1" and wipe the ELO slate clean. Way too many uneven match ups. Getting a Premade of 3, 4, or 5 people together and communicating in a ventrilo server is the only way to enjoy playing and keep winning at level 30. Ranked or normal.
I'm debating between picking up Crysis 2 or Killzone 3 tomorrow. They seem pretty close but I'm leaning towards Crysis 2. What do you guys think? It's for a PS3 if that matters.