GRcade

Flatout 4 - PC

Got this for £3ish, which is a fair value for what it is. Regardless of the jank, there is something compelling about it. It is sad that the original from about 15 years ago has a much better car damage model.

Corazon de Leon wrote:Went back to resident evil zero to do a no-save run: should be easy, I have the infinite rocket launcher. Breeze through the game only to get one shot killed by a giant frog about two minutes from the end boss.

Sure you were calm with no screaming or swearing.

Playing lots and lots of Smite on PS4. Nice little F2P Moba me and my posse are enjoying.

Hexx wrote:

Corazon de Leon wrote:Went back to resident evil zero to do a no-save run: should be easy, I have the infinite rocket launcher. Breeze through the game only to get one shot killed by a giant frog about two minutes from the end boss.

Sure you were calm with no screaming or swearing.

Playing lots and lots of Smite on PS4. Nice little F2P Moba me and my posse are enjoying.

I actually burst out laughing - gave it another shot later on and made it, so it all worked out.

Squinty wrote:Dark Souls is a bit janky.

Can't disagree more. Bioshock 2 has lots of area's that where previously underwater and you get to see weird plant life intertwined and around buildings and furniture. It has more degredation than B1 and because of that I found it far more visually interesting.

I also loved the Shrines to Lamb:

Agents of Mayhem. As a long time fan of Saints Row I thought I'd love this. It's a very weird game. Some character there but a lot of repetitive shooting and going from point A to B.

Also the opening few missions are exceptionally dull.

I agree with brer here. The levels of BioShock 1 were both a joy to play in (mostly) whilst maintaining the facade of real places with real purposes. BioShock 2 tried to do this but was nowhere near as successful.

Take the ur example of Fort Frolic. It's a shopping and entertainment district. It follows the design of real world examples: there's a main soace, with offshot branches containing stores and a theatre at the top end. It's instantly recognisable and relatable. It's also an incredible space to play in: at once open and oppressive with a variety of different environments and engagement spaces.

Now take B2's equivalent of Siren Alley. Firstly it's constrictive; narrow corridors and tight corners. It's so narrow, and so closeted that it's not recognisable as a real world space, it immediately feels like a video game level. It also feels oddly out of proportion, cartoonish in its design. It's still fun to play in, bit lacks that certain something that B1 had going on in the background, an odd form of realism.

Interesting points about the lighting too, and thinking back I reckon you're right. B1 was all about the feel of the atmosphere; the closeness of the Tea Garden, the eeriness of the Fort Frolic cellars, the sadness of Apollo square. I can't think of any areas in two that were expressively atmospheric like that.

Bioshock had some AWFUL later areas though,
Hephaestus, Point Prometheus and Proving Grounds are to me worse than anything in Bioshock 2, Proving Grounds in particular had that awful escort mission. Medical Pavilion, Arcadia, Farmers Market, Olympus Heights and Apollo square are all stunning Locals, I didn't like Fort frolic, thematically it was amazing but architecturally I found it bland compared to other places.

Bioshock 2 again has poorer later levels but I honestly thought everything up to and including Siren Alley was stunning. Overall maybe they didn't reach the highs of Apollo Square or the Medical Pavilion but they didn't have the lows at all, Ryan's Amusements and Paupers Drop are among the best of both games. Ryan's Amusements may be very blatant and heavy handed in its delivery but it was a good locale. Bioshock 2 has neons of flora and Fauna which made for some truly breath taking rooms, the outside buildings had also been in 3D replacing the originals textured ones.

I love both games, and revisiting them just in conversation has me itching to boot them up. It's telling that only the first 2 hours of Infinite come close to 1 & 2. Graphically though it certainly holds its own.

I really disliked Ryan Amusements, although that's mainly from a gameplay point of view. It was linear as hell and you hadn't unlocked enough powers at that point to make it interesting. Thematically I loved the concept but the execution wasn't up to the idea behind it.

The more I think about it, the more I think brer hit the nail on the head when he spoke about lighting. B1 had a mood to it with the darkness doing as much as the light to give areas an individual identity. In B2, even in the screenshots, everything's lit so blandly. All the levels look samey, even when their designs are radically different.

Compare and contrast:

Careful, Taf. I nearly cut my eyes on those jaggies.

This morning I was playing Alien Trilogy - PS1. Great game even if it feels a little clunky.

Now playing Exhumed - PS1. One of my favourite ever games. Been through it several times.

That's some very selective comparisons man.

Overcooked really is great fun in co-op, highly recommended. I bet it's absolute chaos with more than two people though. Oddly the later worlds seemed easier to three star.

Also played the opening of Uncharted 4 (amazing aesthetically), Crash (looks much better in motion than it did in screenshots) and Captain Toad (adorable)

Having finished Apollo justice I went ahead and started Professor Layton and Last Specter (I can't remember UK name, I got US copy because of London Life)

Loving it as I do with other Layton games ❤️

Seven wrote:Having finished Apollo justice I went ahead and started Professor Layton and Last Specter (I can't remember UK name, I got US copy because of London Life)

Loving it as I do with other Layton games ❤️

Still need to get back to the series. Played all of them bar the last one. The Lost Future is so strawberry floating good

Squinty wrote:

Seven wrote:...I went ahead and started Professor Layton and Last Specter...

Loving it as I do with other Layton games ❤️

...The Lost Future is so strawberry floating good

I'm a fan of the Layton series as well. I think The Lost Future is my fave but Spectre is cool, too.

jawafour wrote:

Squinty wrote:

Seven wrote:...I went ahead and started Professor Layton and Last Specter...

Loving it as I do with other Layton games ❤️

...The Lost Future is so strawberry floating good

I'm a fan of the Layton series as well. I think The Lost Future is my fave but Spectre is cool, too.

Dat ending

Installed Dark Souls 3 again. Game does start running better once you get beyond the initial area (I'm now at Road of Sacrifices). It isn't the greatest PC port, but it's playable enough.

I can't help feeling that I've done all this before though. The franchise seems pretty formulaic at this point. It's still enjoyable, but I kinda feel like it doesn't do anything new at all.

Got back into Soma today. Damn good horror title. The underwater setting is superb.

finally picked up No Man's Sky, as the Steam review score has gone way up since the most recent update. four and a half hours in and I'm definitely enjoying it so far, even if it doesn't feel like I've achieved a whole lot

nice to just throw a podcast on and explore space for a while

I'm nearly done with Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn. I've done the single player and co-op campaigns I just have the high score challenges left and it'll be off to Boomerang in the next couple of days.