The Videogames Tab

The only one I've ever really loved was Broken Sword I, and when I played the Director's Cut (one of the few games I bought on disc recently - all 4 titles for £5) found that they'd simplified the goat puzzle. Kid these days have no patience/love for overly repetitive games of chance!

When PC adventures were at their height in the 90s I was newly married and only able to afford a PC for word processing. When I got a bit of cash together I got a PS1, and that was mainly because I'd seen a friend struggling to play Tomb Raider on PC using keyboard.

__________________
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

Just saw a huge gameplay trailer for Assassin's Creed 4, and I'm more than excited for the game to come out.

Might have to check it out then. I'm hugely into that case anyway. What's the gameplay like? Is it akin to Syberia or is there more action? QTEs?

I would agree with that. It definitely wasn't the game I expected when I first heard about it. That said, I remember feeling like the gameplay was tolerable because it was consistent, at least. And I guess I was just more receptive to playing a clunky horror actioner again, after the folks at Capcom turned Resident Evil into pseudo-Gears of War. :/

No QTEs from what I remember, just a very interesting mechanic for gathering and putting together evidence and building your case.

Wasn't a fan of the voice acting though, but that's probably because I can't look at Holmes on screen without thinking of the late great Jeremy Brett.

I'll have to check this out, I loved the first trailer they released.

__________________

~In the event of a Zombie Uprising, remember to sever the head or destroy the brain!~

Oh, nothing like that; standard point-and-click adventure game stuff in terms of general interface, if that's what you mean, so yeah, like Syberia in that respect.

The question is interesting, though, because I guess that's kind of what an adventure game is now, eh? A mix of action and QTEs like Hard Rain or something, even though it all used to be first or third person point-and-click, all low-key with inventories and stuff.

Heavy Rain. Hard Rain's got Christian Slater in it.

You're right though, the adventure genre nowadays seems to have become the 'cinematic experience' genre. Shooters have become the 'brown real war' genre and rpgs are either AAA sandbox/chat fests from Bethesda or Bioware (and Bioware's are barely even rpgs at this point) or blocky Indie jobs which would have looked dated on the SNES. Everything else which is not Sports or Strategy (or an Indie platformer with an Emo subtext) is now 'Action'.

I blame Myst personally - It took Adventure games from 2D point & clickers to artsy 3D with unimaginably random puzzles.

I'm still a big fan of Shenmue, the series that (I believe) introduced QTEs. But yeah, you don't see "point-click" adventure games like Syberia anymore, it seems like. Speaking of Heavy Rain, is everybody else as stoked about Beyond: Two Souls as I am?

Maybe the QTEs were a throwback to the games that the Shenmue guy made his name on - Fighters? God of War had them too but I'm struggling to think of any in the previous (PS1) generation.

Beyond: Two Souls might well be the PS3's swansong, which was supposed to be The Last of Us. Didn't think much of The Last of Us in the end.

I absolutely loved The Last of Us. The story was fantastic, the gameplay was tense and satisfying, the environments were downright beautiful to look at, and the characters were instantly memorable, especially Ellie. I know everyone has their tastes, but what about the game didn't you like?

I'm very jealous of PS3 owners, just because they get the Last of Us. Looks amazing.

Uninspired and uninspiring. Nice looking (but I've been spoiled by things with much higher resolutions, framerates and anti-aliasing) but totally forgettable. In terms of this year's runny jumpy climby things with cover shooting, a bit of stealth and a quote/unquote gritty storyline, I preferred Tomb Raider.

Maybe I'm just not a console gamer any more and I would enjoy it a bit more on PC but The Last Of Us underwhelmed me.

You probably have been spoiled by the PC lol. The game plays however you want it to play, much like Dishonored, only it doesn't punish you for picking a specific play style (like Dishonored and action). I thought it was instantly memorable for the characters alone, as I felt the narrative was more character-driven than plot driven. As for climbing stuff, the game really doesn't need that kind of high-octane action that you'd find in Tomb Raider and Uncharted, I don't think. It's grounded more in realism than blockbuster epic set-pieces. It's a different kind of game than what you probably expected.

I actually expected less than what I got, heh. Naughty Dog's PS3 stuff has always left me a bit cold, dunno why. Maybe it's because their stuff is so character driven that if you don't like the characters you're not that interested in what happens to them.

I think I've also been spoiled by Clementine in The Walking Dead as a sympathetic child character.

Aaanyway - Bought Shadowrun Returns and it's ... quite good. Turn based tactical combat is really clunky when you can't move the camera (unlike, say, XCOM, Expeditions Conquistador or even the venerable Final Fantasy Tactics) and it's apparently really short.

Otherwise, the art style and writing are interesting.

Not surprised Tac isn't a fan of Last of Us, he's not a fan of a lot of ND titles, whereas I'm the complete opposite and love almost everything they've put out.

__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

I'm the same way as you, except for the Jak & Daxter series after the first game (fantastic game right there). The gun mechanics just don't cut it for me, and the whole dark/light Jak thing felt too gimmicky in terms of gameplay.

Don't think I even finished The Precursor Legacy (and didn't play any of the others). Yep, I'm just not in love with Naughty Dog.

Picked up the two STALKER games I didn't own on Steam for £5 at the weekend (and probably put more time into them than anything I picked up in the Summer sale - There's a moral in there somewhere ). Played the first one to death when it was released and am surprised at how well it's held up - Even unmodded it looks great and the difficulty is vicious at times. It's Fallout without the laughs.

Or the hope...

I love the Jak & Daxter series with the original being my personal favourite.

The Uncharted series are some of the best games on the PS3.

But again, to each their own.

New Humble Bundle is out -

Saints Row 2
Saints Row 3
Risen 2
Sacred 2

If you pay more than $4.61 (at the moment) you also get:

Dead Island GOTY plus all of the Saints Row 3 DLC

Apart from Saints Row 2 (not played enough of 3 to really tell) they're not fantastic games but worth a punt at that price.

https://www.humblebundle.com/

Saints Row the Third was a lot of fun. I'd never played any of the earlier games in the series but I enjoyed it. I think there's room in the market for a game that's basically a completely absurd, self-aware version of GTA.