The Videogames Tab

Deadspace: I too have the game just sitting on my computer at the moment. I'm only an hour in although I first tried it at hard, found it too difficult, dropped it down to moderate and found it too easy. Now that I know where the ammo caches are I think I will start it a third time on hard and try to beat it that way.

My main beef with the game is specifically aiming mechanics. In survival horror where every shot counts - esp. in DS where your aiming for limbs - and ammo is scarce I found it really frustrating to find that often I would be missing baddies completely.

Typical situation: monster jumps out at me...I get scared...I start shooting and start missing because the third person view completely screws me up. What I enjoy about fpses is you can operate completely on instincts and reflexes while in Dead Space you have to actually put a great deal of time and thinking into the aiming because of the view and the strategic dismembermant...which in a horror survival game I find completely unviable.

Nevertheless maybe I just haven't given it enough chance and I'll try it again once I beat F.E.A.R. (soooooo scary ).

Killzone 2: After playing and loving the first one this game makes me want to cry with it's awesomeness...and hurt babies because I don't own a PS3 to play it.

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I got Killzone 2 and started playing it then decided it was completely wasted on my tv, so waited till day off then got biggest tv could and its flippin' awesome. Gave online a bash but don't think any online shooter will touch CoD4. It has renewed my faith in the PS3 and given me a few months to hold off on getting an Xbox, especially with Resi 5 out on friday, i should content game wise for a while.

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CoD4 is the best online FPS I've ever played.

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

Suspect's Reviews

I don't know why the makers of this game hate the sniper rifle, but it's horrible to use, both in the first and this one.

You mentioned the Six Axis, and I agree.

I also use Alternate #2, but it still feels awkward at times. When I'm running around about to shoot someone I all of a sudden melee attack them. I wish they had the control system like Resistance 2 where you can pick and choose each individual button.

I think the motion controls are sluggish, just like the first one. This is most evident when you zoom in with any gun. Playing with the look sensitivity helps a little, but not a whole lot.

I guess I've been too spoiled with COD4, which has amazing control, IMO. When I shoot and kill someone online in COD4, I feel like I did it. With Killzone a lot of the time I don't notice it and it feels like a fluke.

I eventually got use to the controls in the first game and wam getting use to them here as well. I really like how they have the online set-up, managing clans and tournaments.

John - I know a couple of people who are using the alt control settings (and tweaking the sensitivity) and are enjoying it a lot more.

I'll probably do what I did with Resistance (and UT3 a couple of days ago) and wait til it's been out a few months and the price has dropped. UT3 cost me a tenner and there's a huge free update coming in the next few days.

I got Race Pro for the 360 last week and am liking it a lot. It's pretty rough around the edges (from the guys who did the GT series for PC, a company run by an ex-racing driver) but the driving physics are top notch. Not tried online yet because it seems to be badly flawed and the hardcore racers are awaiting a patch.

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"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

I got some more gold time for online play, folks. I am up for some CoD Live at some point!

Maybe Meatwad can pop on give some pointers. His stats at the game are crazy good.

Chris - What guns etc. have you liked so far for multiplayer?

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Too early to have a strong preference; I'm mostly going off memory from the single player. I think I settled on the MP5 last night. Still trying to figure out what perks/grenades suit my style of play the best.

If this is anything like the first COD (oh, alright...CoD) multiplayer was, I'll probably try to find a straightforward, smaller map to become more comfortable with (it was Carentan with the first game, by the way; got awfully good there), but it might be tough, because it looks like the CoD4 maps are almost universally larger so far, and each area of most of them is a little less distinct (because it looks more realistic, I assume).

Hows about you? Would be interested in mimicking your setup (favorite guns/maps) and see what it's like.

Well, consensus seems to be that when starting, the M16 or the M4 is the way to go. If you prefer to get some kills in at range, but don't want to do the sniper thing just yet, the M16 just can't be beat, with the caveat that you have to get used to pulling the trigger manually. It fires three round bursts, is ridiculously accurate, has very little drift, and with the stopping power and deep impact perks, is just deadly. At first I was using the red dot sight (after I unlocked it) but I just go with the iron sites now, so I can run the silencer on some maps. Staying invisible on radar when firing on some maps is totally bad ass, although you do loose a bit of range with the silencer.

Alas, the M4 is just a good, and in some ways better. For run and gun style play, where you end up closer in some fights, the MP4 seems to be the better pick. use stopping power and steady aim so you can make close kills from the hip, but still have the option of those longer shots. Nine times out of ten, in a close battle, trying to iron site the shot will get you killed by a hip shooter with steady aim, as they get the shots off just that much faster. The M4 still does pretty well at range, although not as accurately as the M16.

That MP5 you mentioned is also one of the better guns in the game, but you will suffer on the larger maps trying to use it as you can't take the longer shots.

I have a few custom set-ups I use depending on map. Try to make a Sub-machine gun dude, an assault rifle dude, LMG, and of course, a sniper. On the huge maps with really long sniper lanes, it's best to go with a sniper set-up, or use an assault rifle set-up to go anti-sniper.

Another key: Use your knife! the knife is a one hit kill at all times. If you get close to someone, it is ALWAYS fatser to just knife them. No gun beats the knife point blank!

Another tip: If you get caught with your pants down reloading a gun with a bad reload time, cancel the reload by drawing your pistol. You WILL die if you don't do this. You will probably still die if you do, but you have a chance to take them out with a couple of pistol shots to the dome. You can start the reload again later!

These are just a couple of minor tips. The game is super flexible, and there are a ton of strategems to try. Play some different gun, if just to unlock the red dot sites at first. You get XP bonuses for completing various challenges. Pop into the barrracks and set a couple of goals, and you will get some levels, which unlock more stuff, usually perks or other guns.

It gets addicting!

Meatwad will have some more advanced/better strategies, so maybe he will pop in and join the discussion.

Thanks, Seds; some of those are new to me, particularly with specific guns. Some of that I certainly had to learn the hard way with the first CoD multiplayer...sort of universal truths like when to reload, being ready to draw the sidearm, etc, that seem to be true of the old and new games alike. I just got it wrong, learned, and started getting it right. Lot easier when you know the maps, as I could often count on it being safe to reload while running down certain alleys, etc. Kinda cool to think that some of the things that were true then are true now.

And yeah, glad to hear the MP5 is good at close range, because that's what I was going for. Perhaps overly so...out of all the things I got comfortable with with the old CoD, the very LAST thing I got good at was long-to-mid-range shots (obviously sniping is easier), so for now I'm just getting comfortable with the close-range automatic stuff, basic dodging, etc.

I'm terrible with the knife. Really terrible. Possibly because I'm on a PC, dunno. I'll probably switch the melee button from V to F, though. I'm sure it'll just take practice.

The visibility thing is taking a lot of getting used to...as are the air strikes. I'm not nuts about the air stikes, actually. Fun when you have them, but it always feels like a gyp when you're just running along and some chopper mows you down outta nowhere.

I'm still amazed that games like this actually work. Not just at all, but in such large multiplayer games. It really does blow my mind, how far this stuff's come...I mean, really, people from all over the world can be hooked up to the same server in just a few minutes and play an incredibly realistic simulated war. How cool is that? I can't get over it. It amazed me enough with the first game, and it's positively mind-blowing with the newer ones.

I agree.

I guess the knife is easier on the console, as you just have to press the joystick down, on which your thumb already rests.

Damn, it's a bummer we are two different platforms.

Aye, it really is. My brother has an X-Box 360, but I'd obviously have to buy a copy for that, too. And I've tried a couple shooters on the console, and I'm completely useless. I'm sure I could get used to it, but I played one of the Halo games (I forget which) for a little bit that way, and could barely function. Too weird to walk with one joystick and look around with the other. It's keyboard/mouse or bust for me, at this point.

If you happen to have any other CoD games like World at War for the PC, lemme know. Might not be averse to picking up one of the ones I don't own, even, since they're all great games anyway.

I was thinking I might snag CoD for PC so we can play a few games. The mouse is a better aiming device, for sure. If I see a copy for not too much cash, I will snag it.

Let me know which one you get; I still have the first CoD, but I don't think it runs on Vista, which means I wouldn't be able to run it on my new computer, so I wouldn't be able to play you there. I would guess that CoD 3 is probably Vista-compatible...I don't have it, but I wouldn't mind owning it, so I'd be glad to snag a copy of that one, too, if you do. Either way don't go to too much trouble, of course!

Anyway, yeah, I only picked it (the first game) up in the first place because it was $10. Love those walls full of cheap games at Target and Wal-Mart.

I think I would end up with Modern Warfare for the PC, as I love the newer tech in those games.

It is pretty sick. I know it's been done before, but I really dug the night vision in Modern Warfare. Heck, I dug almost everything about it.

I'm looking forward, when I get some free time this weekend, to going back to the sniper flashback level and trying some different routes. They give you a number of choices to sneak by or shoot it out there, and it should be fun to try the opposite of what I did the first time.

So have you played Resi 5 yet? If so, what's the verdict?

I also used Alternate #2, but I love it. Perfect button layout, and I had no problems. I also have no problems with the sniper rifle.

I don't get why people say this as I find CoD 4 to have some of the worst controls on a console. Horrid.

I'm sorry, but I can't agree with this one. The online play is very good, but there's no way, in my mind, that it is the best.

Yea, you need a sick setup to experience Killzone 2 in all its glory. I was enthralled for the 5-6 hours I played it.

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"This is that human freedom, which all boast that they possess, and which consists solely in the fact, that men are conscious of their own desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been determined." -Baruch Spinoza

Ive not played it yet but ive heard bad things such as the covering system and they have completly bunked Chris as he doesnt look the same.

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

CoD is certainly the best online shooter I have played, IMO. The levels/unlockables make it much more compelling than any of the others. It is also the most realistic; No icons, no power ups, no "MEGAKILL!!!!" constantly coming through the speakers. The controls are also top notch...for a console game. They ARE sort of clunky compared to a computer, though.

Here is some awesome news for those of you like me who love Excite Truck for the Wii...







There is a sequel coming out called Excite Bots which im so chuffed over, I love Excite Truck.



This game looks SOOOOOOOO good I cant wait, at the moment there is only an American release scheduled, cant wait for the UK one If anyone hasnt seen Excite Truck you need to play this game