Now what are you playing now 2: Limited Collectors Edition

[Audley Strange]

But... Pandas!!!!

The game I've been investing a lot of time on recently is "The Secret World" while it's receiving mixed reviews and is pretty costly, I'm having much fun. It's buggy, the character creation is a bit lame. PVP is a Templar zerg fest and the story just stops with loose ends. Apparently this is because every single month (supposedly) they will be continuing the story, altering the landscape and missions of the game. It's certainly not for everyone. However I find it's dark Secret Society Lovecraftian/King influences aesthetically pleasing and for a new MMO property it's pretty original, plus it's very very well written, put together.

The missions themselves are pretty standard but done with some nice storylines dark comedy and panache. The puzzles can be outrageous. I spent about an hour in Egypt translating Arabic words into English to find that they were pertinent to something in the Bible. Then I had to translate the English into Herbrew in order to activate Solomon's staff to rid the area of djinn and worse.

I've had to break down Morse Code, do a bit of art analysis and all sorts of other things. While it is an MMO, you can play through it solo apart from the group instances. There are plenty of solo instances which seems weird at first but what they do is teach you the component phases of Boss fights in group dungeons. There are also stealth missions which can be a bit frustrating but all in all I'm loving it.

If anyone else is playing this, let me know.

[cogwheel]

I'm sure there will be pandas in my future, but I just can't bring myself to play the current content anymore.

The Secret World looks pretty cool. On a very abstract level some of the gameplay elements remind me of Eve (no classes, complete freedom, no levels per se). Might have to give it a whirl next time I'm looking for something new.

[Audley Strange]

Nah that's just marketing, you can play how you want, in fact for soloing you'll need various builds to deal with various enemies but in dungeons it gets back to DPS heals and tank essentially, but that freedom to choose means you can really fuck up a build if you don't pay attentions.

I gave up WoW around Firelands and won't be going back. It's done. They can keep adding "new" things but the engine is limited in it's mechanics for mobs and bosses.

[dj357]

Currently playing the balls off Terraria, Dead Island (co-op) and Borderlands 1 (co-op and in anticipation of Borderlands 2). Also dipping in and out of Skyrim, Assassins Creed 1, Minecraft, Batman: Arkham City, Fallout 3, Combat Arms and Blacklight Retribution. Finally finished Red Faction: Guerilla last night after giving up a few years ago after dying on the final mission like a million times.

Oh, and they're spread across Xbox 360, PS3 and PC!

[Badger3k]

Currently playing the balls off Terraria, Dead Island (co-op) and Borderlands 1 (co-op and in anticipation of Borderlands 2). Also dipping in and out of Skyrim, Assassins Creed 1, Minecraft, Batman: Arkham City, Fallout 3, Combat Arms and Blacklight Retribution. Finally finished Red Faction: Guerilla last night after giving up a few years ago after dying on the final mission like a million times.

Oh, and they're spread across Xbox 360, PS3 and PC!

Just picked up (well, paid off my pre-order) on Borderlands 2, as well as picked up Risen 2. I'm...a bit torn on that. It is a little jerky graphics wise, and the controls are not the best, but it came with the two DLC adventures, so I'm giving it a try. The only sad part is no ship combat. I have to wait for Assassin's Creed 3 for that, apparently.

[The Curious Squid]

I've been revisiting Wipeout HD and played a lot of Halo 3, ODST and Reach too.

[tattuchu]

I'm playing Resistance: Fall of Man. Yeah, I'm a little behind the times
After that I'll play Resistance 2 (they came as a boxed set).
In the mail Monday should be coming the Jak and Daxter set I ordered, now re-released for the PS3.
Similarly, Ratchet and Clank will be coming out soon as well for the PS3.
And Okami.
Now if only we could get Psychonauts and Beyond Good & Evil re-released
And when the hell is Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath coming out for PS3 as promised?

[Audley Strange]

I just finished Beyond Good and Evil again for the 5th time. I got it for a fiver on XBL and it's still as fantastic as it always was.

This is what bugs me sometimes about a lot of the game community, they always say they want something with heart and that pushes the medium forward and wax on about ace games like Ico and BG&E but always in retrospect because they predominantly never fucking buy anything that isn't familiar and then bitch that everything else is a clone of everything else and why is no one innovating.


I'ts basically...

"Hey guys new stuff!"

"BOOO fuck that shit. We liked Old Stuff!!!"

"Okay guys, fair enough here's New Stuff two same as Old Stuff with shiny aesthetics."

"BOO fucking lame! Why the fuck did you make Old Stuff again when New Stuff was awesome?!?!"

[tattuchu]

For me it's not in retrospect. The entire reason I bought a PS2 to begin with was so I could play Ico. I tend to not like the things that other people like, so sought out other games that looked cool to me, particularly anything unusual or unique. Mister Mosquito, Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, Fatal Frame, Katamari Damacy, Psychonauts, Beyond Good & Evil, Okami, Bully, Prince of Persia, Shadow of the Colossus. I also liked the Medal of Honor games, GTA, Jak & Daxter, and Ratchet and Clank. But these series got boring and repetitive after a while. I'm sure there are many others I might have liked, but how to find them? How do I buy them if I don't know they exist?
When The Last Guardian was (supposed to be) coming out, that's when I decided I really had to spend the money to buy a PS3. But then it never came out. Still waiting. And I'm really not finding much in the way of PS3 games to interest me. So much so in fact that I've pretty much stopped gaming altogether. It used to be that I played every single day from the time I got home from work to the time I went to bed. Sometimes I'd stay up into the wee hours of the morning playing. Now I come home from work and I don't know what the hell to do with myself. I'll eat supper, have a few beers, and then go to bed early.
There at least seemed to be slightly more variety with PS2 games. Is it just me or is there not shit for good games for the PS3? I've played Fallout 3, Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2, Bioshock 1 and 2, and, uh...and I think that's it. Nothing else interests me. I tried a new Prince of Persia game but it was awful. I played a new Ratchet and Clank game and it was very good as all Insomniac games are, but it was just the same old same old. I'm playing Insomniac's Resistance now, not because I like shooters that much, but because I wanted to try something different. Just anything different. I'm glad Insomniac did something new. I just wish it was another fantasy/adventure/platformer in the vein of Spyro or Ratchet and Clank, something colorful lighthearted and fun.
After Resistance, it'll just be replaying the re-released PS2 games. I'm happy they're being re-released so I can play them again. But it's kinda sad at the same time. I'd much rather be playing something new.

Audley, are there any PS3 games you'd recommend? Anything you think might interest me? Anything worthwhile? Maybe there's something out there I'm just not aware of?

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Rediscovered Call of Duty - Nazi Zombies co-op recently. There are quite a few nice maps and mods to play with out there.
Carnage.

[Alan C]

Just picked up Diablo III [at reduced price] as an early present to myself. First character; a Barbarian [same name as the one I made in D2]. Hulk smash!

[Audley Strange]

For me it's not in retrospect. The entire reason I bought a PS2 to begin with was so I could play Ico. I tend to not like the things that other people like, so sought out other games that looked cool to me, particularly anything unusual or unique. Mister Mosquito, Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, Fatal Frame, Katamari Damacy, Psychonauts, Beyond Good & Evil, Okami, Bully, Prince of Persia, Shadow of the Colossus. I also liked the Medal of Honor games, GTA, Jak & Daxter, and Ratchet and Clank. But these series got boring and repetitive after a while. I'm sure there are many others I might have liked, but how to find them? How do I buy them if I don't know they exist?
When The Last Guardian was (supposed to be) coming out, that's when I decided I really had to spend the money to buy a PS3. But then it never came out. Still waiting. And I'm really not finding much in the way of PS3 games to interest me. So much so in fact that I've pretty much stopped gaming altogether. It used to be that I played every single day from the time I got home from work to the time I went to bed. Sometimes I'd stay up into the wee hours of the morning playing. Now I come home from work and I don't know what the hell to do with myself. I'll eat supper, have a few beers, and then go to bed early.
There at least seemed to be slightly more variety with PS2 games. Is it just me or is there not shit for good games for the PS3? I've played Fallout 3, Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2, Bioshock 1 and 2, and, uh...and I think that's it. Nothing else interests me. I tried a new Prince of Persia game but it was awful. I played a new Ratchet and Clank game and it was very good as all Insomniac games are, but it was just the same old same old. I'm playing Insomniac's Resistance now, not because I like shooters that much, but because I wanted to try something different. Just anything different. I'm glad Insomniac did something new. I just wish it was another fantasy/adventure/platformer in the vein of Spyro or Ratchet and Clank, something colorful lighthearted and fun.
After Resistance, it'll just be replaying the re-released PS2 games. I'm happy they're being re-released so I can play them again. But it's kinda sad at the same time. I'd much rather be playing something new.

Audley, are there any PS3 games you'd recommend? Anything you think might interest me? Anything worthwhile? Maybe there's something out there I'm just not aware of?

I do not own a PS3. However I've heard varied things about Heavy Rain? and of course the forthcoming Beyond:Two Souls. The problem is we are at the end of a cycle and the console manufacturers seem reticent to bring out the next gen, because they seem to think that perhaps digital online or streaming games are going to be more profitable, especially since the whole shenanigans with resale of late. I think they take exception to the fact that we "own" their games still and can they're envisioning a kind of pay to play strategy akin to a 21st century home coin-op. However if it's out and you can get it I'd thoroughly reccommend Rayman 3. It's a 2d platformer but may as well be a cartoon. It's funny, lovely, stupid and tough without being "AAAARRRRGH YOU CHEATING BASTARD GAME!!"

I don't know if PS3 has an arcade section like XBLA, but if it does, you'll find tonnes of fun games on there. Things like Limbo or Castle Crashers or Super Meat Boy.

Check out EDGE, it's a bit industry based but they know their shit when it comes to gaming, mostly.

I'm at a loss on consoles too, which is why I went back to PC.

[SteveB]

I have an old PC, so I canz only play old games...





5 points to you, if you know about the 2nd...

[PsychoSerenity]

While waiting for some real computer games to download, I decided to have a go at that Windows classic Solitaire.

It dealt me a hand with no possible moves.

Well, I didn't really want to play it anyway.

[tattuchu]

While waiting for some real computer games to download, I decided to have a go at that Windows classic Solitaire.

It dealt me a hand with no possible moves.

Well, I didn't really want to play it anyway.

Sounds a lot like life

I just finished Resistance: Fall of Man. Technically speaking, it was very good, as all Insomnia Games games are. But the story was unengaging and I didn't really give a shit about the lead character. I played through a second time to collect all the intel documents I was missing, but got no discernible reward for it. I'll play the second game now (they came as a boxed set), but it's not something I'm real excited about. It's just something to do.