Games Discussion Thread

XSI · Jul 14, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

Games

Card Hunter

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Pretty sweet game, also multiplayer and free so check it out

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It's already been 6 hours?

Card Hunter is an excellent tactical game in which you play a pen and paper game(Much simplified and game-y-fied of course) where you have a party of 3 heroes in a medieval/fantasy style setting. You go through questing modules and collecting loot to of course upgrade your own equipment and play through the storylines presented.

It's a charming game with simple but good graphics, a solid foundation for gameplay, and plenty of quests available. You do not seem to be hampered or stopped by paywalls, which seem to only be there to allow you access to more loot, cosmetics, and at times to unlock some new adventures. Not that you -need- those adventures, you can do just fine without them, but it does seem like it would be a good idea to get them at some point.
In game, you will find the movement and combat to be intuitive, with all moves being detailed on cards you play it is easy to look up what something does, and you won't find yourself blindsided by surprise gameplay changes. It's all about knowing your tools and using them well.
For the looting fans, you can spend your gold to buy extra loot chests, and for those who love to optimise everything there is a good variety of equipment available that is sure to get you exactly what you need to build your dream team.

While it starts a bit slow, it builds up quickly and gets in full swing fast enough to be comfortable without any moments where the difficulty hits you on the head.
I haven't even tried the multiplayer yet, but with the solid base this game has, co-op, and ranked play I seriously doubt I would be disappointed.

As a summary, Card Hunter is a great tactics game with good atmosphere and as opposed to many 'free' games, this is actually a game you can play for free and enjoy. It is certainly worth giving a try

Cappy · Jul 14, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

I'd be willing to start up Card Hunter again.

I got over the singleplayer as one of the sign-up beta testers back in the day, due to the grind and playing it a little over board for quite awhile, but it's been some time and I quite like the tactics game format, and remember enjoying the game.

XSI · Jul 15, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

I've not found any grind at all, but that may be because it's been fleshed out now

Unknown Squid · Jul 16, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

XSI said:
Payday 2

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Oh boy, reviewing Payday 2. What's there to say?
It's the essence of 'good enough' turned into a game. It does not have many noticable good points nor many obviously noticable flaws.

It's an fps game with decent graphics, decent guns, and decent action. You can sneak missions or just go in and shoot everything up. Most objectives are fairly simple 'loot x and move the bags to extraction point y', which earned it a nickname of 'Bag moving simulator'. Luckily, most later missions move away from 'just move loads of bags' to more interesting missions, but the majority of missions are still fairly simple looting missions.

Loot that you can use mainly to buy more guns, and at times a customised mask. Aside from that, your money is essentially just a number that goes up after you win a mission. You should not have any problem with money unless you are actively avoiding the higher difficulty missions(Which are not all that tough except on Deathwish difficulty). Most of the higher difficulties are only just adding more health or damage to the cops, or adding more specials like tasers and riot shields.
The game as a whole feels unfinished, as though they reached the halfway point in making it and then decided 'good enough, polish it a bit and start selling'. Considering the DLC they've put out, I highly doubt they had any actual plans past this first half, or maybe they just cancelled whatever they had, I can't say it's showing any sort of long term planning.

Being a 4-player team based game, of course you are best off playing with friends. Teamwork is essential for some of the harder missions and difficulties. You will generally find it much more enjoyable if you play with people you know, as it is at its core about a group of four friends working together to pull of heists.
In the end, it's an alright game, with DLC piled upon DLC with DLC attached, most of which are extra guns or cosmetic changes, with a few of them being new heists to do. It's worth noting that only one in four players needs the heist DLC, and the rest can join the host without owning it.

In the end, Payday 2 is alright, it does just enough to be considered good and playable but not much past that. If you have friends to play with, pick it up when it's on sale, have yourselves a good time and then shelve it again - There isn't much replay value past achievements and trying to just bring your money number as high as possible. No endgame, no safehouse customisation, and no way to really spend your ingame money, just more of the same heists you've already done.

I enjoyed the time I spent in Payday, and there's some genuine stuff going for it's fairly unique gameplay. But I have to say I really dislike it's business model. By which I mean it asks a front up price yet plays very much like a free-to-play, and then bombards you with DLC for various weapons and equipment, many of which are objectively superior to the ones in the base game.

I started playing it with a pair of friends, one of which bought some kind of starter pack that got him some of the DLC with the game. In one of the early missions when our newbish attempts at stealth had predictably failed within the first 20 seconds, said friend calls out, "Oh shit shield guys! Squid throw a grenade!" to which I could only reply, "I don't have any grenades, I don't have that DLC".

Later on we're comparing weapons and stuff talking about what we're aiming towards and considering for the future. Mention I'm hoping to get a certain gun mod (random chance reward at end of each mission), and friend points out that the best mod of the type I mentioned comes from the courier packages that can be scavenged for in missions, and that it's probably quicker than waiting on the RNG. I'm stuck saying, "You need the courier DLC to be able to use those packages. I don't have it..."

Best semi auto rifle? DLC.
ALL the LMGs? DLC.
ALL the sniper rifles? DLC.
Flame based weapons? DLC.
etc etc... >_>

And it's not a case of just bypassing some grinding. Entire weapon and equipment categories are simply flat out excluded from the base game. It kinda killed it for me. You end up with an inventory screen which is two thirds greyed out silhouettes which link to store pages.

Seeing "pay to win" elements in free to play games is nothing new, but discovering it in a game I paid an up front price for, really irked me.

XSI · Jul 16, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

Unknown Squid said:
Best semi auto rifle? DLC.
ALL the LMGs? DLC.
ALL the sniper rifles? DLC.
Flame based weapons? DLC.
etc etc... >_>

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Dont bother with the flame based weapons, they're pretty shiny but ultimately do just about nothing
LMGs? Only a few are even worth it
Sniper rifles? Literally a must-have on high difficulties, grenades are pretty shit too, but they do something at least

Their payment model is really shit, and they STILL haven't made good on their release promises, 21 heists(Only if you BUY extras...), and all the hints they had out for safehouse customisation? Yeah, probably never happening either.

The game itself is honestly just lacking in content. It's almost exactly the same as their pre-order given beta was if you don't count the DLCs. And that's after more than a year of 'development' (Which they apparently send out to other studios too).
I don't know what they've been doing, but it certainly wasn't working on Payday 2

(I also have the flame weapons DLC reviewed in detail, check my reviews list for it. Rest of the DLCs coming soon(tm))

lurker · Jul 16, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

TBH, I only played the original Payday, and I found it quite enjoyable in the same way I played Left 4 Dead 2, it's obviously in the same vein back then but with the zombies replaced with cops. Not sure I want to pick up the second one though, as I tend to soloplay stuff anyway and A: Payday does MUCH better even with pubs, specially when grinding for your 'levels', and B: the DLC BS. Considering I went through similar issues with Dungeon Defenders, not sure I feel like doing it again.

XSI · Jul 27, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

I wrote another thing.

Considering to make a separate thread for reviews

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Airport Madness 4

It's a flash game. For 10bux.
Why steam? Why?

Airport Madness 4 is an arcade-like game about airplane management that is, at best, alright.

You are put in the role of the airspace controlling whatever it is called(I can't really remember the name of the job) at an airport and you have to manage your aircraft to let them land and take off without making them wait too long or crash into eachother.

And that's about it.
You'll occasionally find yourself getting a helipad added to your entrusted airport, and in level 1 even an extra runway, but it doesn't change or become more complex in any way after you figure out the basics.

It's a simple concept with decent replayability, but it is incredibly repetitive and shallow as far as a full game goes.
It's just a slight bit more than what would be a succesfull flash game one would find on games sites, but not much more than that. It seems to be about the same size as one would expect from a flash game, and has about the same animation(Very poor explosions). A price of 10 euro is then very, very steep for what you get.

Coupled with the simple gameplay comes a few issues. The resolution is tiny(The steam preview pictures? That's almost full size, almost.), full screen mode will stretch everything if you're on a widescreen monitor, and your area of operations is tiny to the point where you can not even see the aircraft before they're starting their landing on some of the maps.

To say it's an amusing way to spend a few hours is correct. But to call it a full game and worthy of 10 euro? Not even close. If steam had a neutral recommendation, I'd give it that - Get it if you're a fan of this sort of game and it's on sale, otherwise it's probably best to avoid it.
For now, I'll give it the thumbs down, since it's definitely not worth the price. But if you can pick it up really cheaply it is probably a good idea to give it a shot.
Maybe at a 90% sale or something similar

Copper · Jul 29, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

If you don't mind, XSI, I think you're looking for "Air Traffic Controller." Close to what you've got, but just throwing that out there.

And at least it's not that horrible...airplane flight "game" thing that's gained infamy for being "so bad it's not even good bad."

XSI · Jul 29, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

Yes, that is exactly the word I was looking for, thank you

Thing is though, it's still a scam. 10 euro/dollar for what's essentially an early Newgrounds era flash game

Crawdaddy · Jul 29, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

And at least it's not that horrible...airplane flight "game" thing that's gained infamy for being "so bad it's not even good bad."

Are you thinking about "Air Control"?

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. - "It looks like if an FPS had sex with a dead man's dick'n'balls."

Greenlight is... flawed, to say the least.

Copper · Jul 30, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

Flawed is a polite way of putting it, but yes. That's what I was thinking of.

XSI · Jul 30, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

Free game
Add it to your library today and you'll have it forever

I'm also taking this oppertunity to review it. After I play it

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Crawdaddy · Jul 31, 2015

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Blizzard to announce next expansion at Gamescom August 6th.

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That's record quick, I believe. Makes sense, after the current expansion has a record few content patches.

Crawdaddy · Aug 7, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

Sorry for the double-post:

World of Warcraft: Legion has been announced.

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Illidan returns, the Burning Legion invades Azeroth again, and a new Hero class in the Demon Hunter. The new continent is (are?) The Broken Isles. Enemies includes demons, satyr cultists, naga and those norse-themed giants from Wrath.

Honestly, lorewise, this looks like a return to classic Warcraft themes after the "screwball" expansions of MoP and WoD.

The success of the expansion now comes down to Blizz actually producing some fucking content for the players to play, imho.

Rule 34 · Aug 20, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

Welp, Tales From The Borderlands Ep 4 is out, and holy shit is it a doozy. I really can't talk too much about it, but there's not any doubt anymore that TFTB is having an impact on the main games.

Also,

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fucking awesome song is played in it at the most perfect moment.

OAMP · Aug 21, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

I'm watching an LP, though not through all the way on 4. I applaud Telltale for seemingly having their shit together for a change and getting a release out in a timely manner. Also, I have several big predictions about what will happen that I can't wait to test.

(And yeah, I already know about what happens right after that song)

XSI · Aug 29, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

Haven & Hearth 2 came out and it's already a gigantic trainwreck/scam

Pass the popcorn, it's going to be amusing

SirOni · Aug 29, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

Oh sweet, really? What's happening with it so far? Fucking loved the first, it's a shame if something bad's happening with the second.

XSI · Aug 30, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

It is now an 'early access alpha' that you have to pay for to play more than one hour/day

And the curio system that killed the original is still in, thus making sure this will die too once the hype wears off

SirOni · Aug 30, 2015

Re: Games Discussion Thread

Oh, that's a bit shit. Would've loved to play the early access but if you're only limited to an hour a day then fuck that. Though I didn't mind the curio system from the original, my only complaint with the game (aside from the Russians pillaging and burning everything to the ground) was that farming took forever.

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