Birthday Money

[tallguy1618]

OKay, I got some cash for my birthday and am looking for any good suggestions on new games to get. Games I own already: Sins of a Solar Empire, CnC3+kane's Wrath, Company of Heroes+Opposing Fronts, The Orange Box, Medieval Total War 2, COD2, SupCom, Crysis, KOTOR 1 and 2, Civ4+BTS+Warlods, Oblivion, Morrowind, and others just these are the ones I actively play. If anyone knows any good games to buy, please tell me! I don't care if it's older or brand new, I just want something for the summer. Preffered genre's are FPS, RPG, RTS, and Strategy. Any help would be greatley appreciated.

Currently looking at Mass Effect, worth it?

 

[imnotageek]

Oh, I love the RPG component of Mass Effect. It almost plays like watching a movie. There is a tech tree component as well as simple weapon / armor. It plays like NWN2 without the pausing (there are still instances that you can pause to command your squad to do special power). It plays like HG:L in terms of weapons with mods and no restriction on ammo and you can break the components down into some sort of gel I think for door opening (can't remember as I have just started).

The door opening mini-game is much better than the BioShock hacking game.

There are a fair bit of dialogues and choices to be made and all are spoken and facial expression and gesture. Pretty convincing. Don't need to read text like other RPGs.

Installation did give me problem (like my other posts). Otherwise, it is a darn fun game so far.

 

[tricky trees]

I don't see Call of Duty 4 on your list. Get that, Mass Effect, Rainbow six Vegas 2 or maybe Gothic 4.

 

[bobwya]

... Currently looking at Mass Effect, worth it?

OK. I am lover of the Dues Ex series (OK not so much the second one). Mass Effect has similar feel to me.

Bit to many cut scenes. But I like the way the personality orientation determines what paths are open to you in the dialogs!

I'm luv'in the clever loading system (lots of short loads between small areas). Hardly notice it.

The graphics are totally awesome (high settings given me a just playable ~30FPS @1600x1200; Windows XP x64; DX 9.0c; ATI 1950Pro 512Mb). The characters are very life like and the voice acting is very good.

The whole game has a real Space Opera feel to me... Although the game is linear I like the way you can stack up a number of goals and complete these in any order you feel like...

Some subelements are timed, most of the time you are free to wander around with your little squad (2 active members at anytime). The little games and puzzles aren't as well integrated as Doom 3 but still advance things nicely and break up the action.

The combat is a little bit flaky but I'm luv'in the special power powers (like Dues Ex biomods) and the graphical effects for these blew me away when I first saw them! Not sure about the console 3rd person view yet but I am getting used to it slowly. I have mainly been playing Battlefield 2 recently - so its quite a change!!

Game of the year??

Bob

 

[tallguy1618]

I have RSV2 for the 360 and I think im also getting COD4 for the 360 too (my friends will kill me if I get it for the PC as they all play it on 360), but thanks for the suggestion.

 

[rayzor]

Check out the Witcher!

 

[llama_man]

If you liked Civ 4 and Sins... then give Galactic Civilizations II a go. It's a sci-fi turn-based game (in the mould of the legendary MOO2) and is excellent. Two good add-ons have been released too.

And NO DRM!


If you ever played Elite, give X3:Reunion a go too. It's quite old now, so should be pretty cheap. Still looks good and gives hours of gameplay.

 

[tallguy1618]

I was actually thinking about getting Galactic Civilizations a while back, but I didnt have any money. If I can convince my cousin to get it too, then I'm difinitely going to get it. Is there any chance you could give a quick rundown of what game play is like? How close is it to Civ4?

Also, what is the Witcher like? Is it like an Oblivion RPG or more like a KOTOR RPG?

 

[llama_man]

It's quite different to Civ 4 - it's much more like Master of Orion 2.

There's probably a demo.

 

[foxhound009]

COD4 .. UT3 (If you can bare the fact that there aren't many players playing it)
STALKER is a really good fps (very atmospheric) , I also can't spot Bioshock on
ur list it's pretty good. Witcher the rpg of the 2007 pretty sweet.
I know u said rpg fps an rts but u could give GRID a try.. it's the best racing game I have played so far, it's REALLY good.

 

[mrplow99]

cod4 is over rated, all that people play is "hardcore" mode, and its more like noob spray fest mode

 

[RizzyWho]

Get yaself a PS3 and MGS4 <-- wat a game

 

[tallguy1618]

I don't think my dad would let me get a PS3 considering I already have a 360.

 

[Guest]

mrplow... it used to be where all the good players played... I only played hardcore at the beginning because its was the only challenging things... now all the loser noobs think they are good enough to play it... so all they do is camp in a corner with claymores and an LMG and spray and pray... its ridiculous.... o well so much for cod 4

 

[rayzor]

Also, what is the Witcher like? Is it like an Oblivion RPG or more like a KOTOR RPG?

I guess you mean is it more quest/loot oriented or more story/character oriented? In that regard it's closer to KOTOR. However, The Witcher is in a class of its own. It is a fantasy RPG for adults in which your choices in the game have real consequences on the plot and are not always black and white. KOTOR was famous/infamous for its very simplistic choices (ie; kill beggar or give beggar money) but in The Witcher, you may give a starving band of elves supplies only to find out that they later kill groups of humans. The Witcher has a fantastic story line and is highly atmospheric. Also, the game's developer is releasing an updated version, known as 'The Witcher 2.0' sometime this fall. It will have completely reworked dialogue and some other significant improvement's on the original game's flaws. Best of all, it will be free to download for people who already own the game.

I will say that if you are the type of person who plays RPG's mostly for the looting, gear, and character customization, The Witcher may not be your cup of tea. But if you appreciate a great story, great atmosphere, and some really neat characters, The Witcher is more than worth your money! I've had so many 'wow!' moments with this game. To me, it's much more enjoyable than Oblivion. I think with the addition of the 2.0 patch, this game will create quite a legacy for itself and will take its place alongside some of the best RPGs released to date.

 

[Pist]

You asked if Mass Effect is worth it, well do you care if it has DRM which limits how many times you can install it before having to beg EA Support for another code so you can play. (PC Version)

I can't stand games that limit how many times you can install it, computers aren't perfect and people like to upgrade the hardware so why limit how many times a person can install a game.

 

[bobwya]

You asked if Mass Effect is worth it, well do you care if it has DRM which limits how many times you can install it before having to beg EA Support for another code so you can play. (PC Version)

I can't stand games that limit how many times you can install it, computers aren't perfect and people like to upgrade the hardware so why limit how many times a person can install a game.

Also having played more of Mass Effect I am starting to see some big flaws in it... You know like cutting corners to save development time... More of Soap Opera then a Space Opera it would appear.

Bob

 

[tallguy1618]

Okay, thanks for the posts everyone. So far, it seems like The Witcher would be something I would really enjoy, but keep suggesting other ideas. I recently got KOTOR2 to work in Vista WITH sound, so I'm not AS rushed to find a new RPG game, but I'm still searching. Rayzor has almsot sold me on The Witcher, but can anyone play devil's advocate and start telling my problems with it (if it has any)?

 

[rayzor]

I recently got KOTOR2 to work in Vista WITH sound

You did WHAT? I am impressed! I had the same problem and it took forever before some random combination of solutions did the trick.


Perhaps violating the 'good salesman code of ethics,' i'll make a little list of the major complaints people have had with the game:

■Long loading times--if you have a decent computer, they're really not bad...the issue has been improved significantly with new patches. On the system in my sig, load times occasionally approach 30 seconds.

■Restricted exploration--if you seek the open-endedness of oblivion ("hey, see that mountain in the distance...let's CLIMB IT!") The Witcher will probably disappoint. While there is lots of explorable area in the game, you can't simply visit any area at any time as in oblivion.

■Weak/Fragmented Translation--the original game was made in Polish, and in all honesty, the translation to English is not great. But it's not bad either, and though it falls short of eloquent, it does its job of getting the point across. Furthermore, the dialog is going to be completely redone in the aforementioned Witcher 2.0, which will be available as a free download to current owners of the game.

■Repetitive Character Models and Jarring Character Animations--there are not many character models for the different npcs. While all the major characters have their own skin, most of the villagers/townsfolk are recycled liberally. Also, during cutscenes, the characters sometimes make stupid looking gestures, like swinging their arms about. Both these issues are to be addressed in The Witcher 2.0.

■Menu/Interface--Yes it's clunky and kind of difficult to get used to. Again, it's going to be addressed in Witcher 2.0

■Combat System--this is only criticism depending on who you are. You don't actually get direct control of your character during fights. Instead, you have to move the cursor over one of your enemies and click when it lights up. If you continually string successful attacks, your character can pull off some pretty sick moves. I enjoyed this welcome departure from oblivion style hack and slash, but others have found it to be quite boring. If you think this will trouble you, you may want to watch some gameplay movies somewhere to decide for yourself.

That's about it. Some people will complain of bugs/technical issues, but if you have the magical talent required to run KOTOR2 with sound on Vista, nothing the Witcher can throw at you will stand in your way. I'm 50 hours in and haven't had A SINGLE crash!!

Also, you may want to try the demo, which consists of the entire first 5th of the game!

 

[yetyhunter]

If you love racing games buy GRiD