I'm a bit further into the Last of Us now and am coming around a bit. The stealth is still broken (it actually got even easier; I've got a bow now, which kills silently and has retrievable arrows), but the atmosphere is just absolutely fantastic.

Unreal is kicking my ass with the Titans. There is one inside an amphitheater that killed me a couple of times, and then there is one more just after that on the next level that squashed me a bit ago. FUCK!

Surprisingly I'm having quite a bit of fun with Dungeon Siege III lately. At first I scoffed that the game wasn't like DS 2...but then I remembered DS 2 wasn't like DS 1. As for the whole consolification of the game, to be honest I'm kind of sick of point and click and the controller scheme actually makes the game a bit more engaging.

As for its supposed lack of customization the game actually gives you a hell of a lot more choices about how to approach combat than either DS 1 or 2, both of which relied heavily on auto attacks. Gear wise despite the game giving each of the characters different sets there's enough variety to let me decide if I want to go fully defensive, all out offensive, reliant on critical hits or applying status effects.

My only gripe is the complete lack of moddability, which is surprising for a game made by Obsidian. Then again Squeenix was the publisher...

I was playing X-COM on 'cheating bastard' difficulty for a bit, but now I'm playing Empire: Total War again.

As the British, obviously. I'm at war with France. And Spain.

(they started it, they wouldn't give me their territories in the Americas at what I considered a very reasonable price)

In a turn or two I should finally have finished reconciling the whinging bastard Thirteen Colonies, too.

Then I'll show them what 'taxation without representation' really means.

... in summary, Paris fell.

See the guy on his knees? He's the last defender of Paris.

(that big wall in the background? That's Paris. It's mine now. We're redecorating the Palais de Bourbon at the moment.)



Shortly after my righteous and generally well-received (in England...) conquest, these chaps tried rising up against their hated oppressors. It did not end well for them.



(oh and the Thirteen Colonies saw the error of their ways and rejoined the glorious British Empire without bitching about it, or needing to get invaded. Which was nice of them.

Apart from New York and Maine, who have declared independence. Twats.)

On the Sunspire temple. It's as annoying as I remember it. Can't wait to get passed it. I remember a few levels before it that I haven't crossed paths with. I guess they come after it. Oh well. Failing memory for the lose.

Every bit the fuck of a fucking fuck that I hated twelve years ago. God I hate that fucking fuck fucker of a fucking fuckity fucking fuck temple fucking fuck Sunspire fucking fuck fuck fuck temple fucking motherfucking motherfucker motherfuck fuck fucking fuck fuck FUCK!!!

I finally got passed the Sunspire Temple to the gateway to Na Pali. Maybe now I can go back to enjoying the game? Maybe not...

I like how no matter how many weapons and how much ammo I gather, I never feel overpowered compared to the enemies. Every encounter feels life threatening, but winnable. It's always a challenge, and hardly ever a burden (Titans can still fuck off with the fucking spiders).

With the Desmond parts in III I finally felt like I was actually accomplishing something in the modern world. Before it was wake up, have a bit of character development maybe (maybe not) get back in the animus and actually do stuff. With III I was looking forward to the out of animus bits which was a first.

Who are these folk that don't like the naval bits and how do they get through life being so wrong?

I did like the combat more. I especially enjoyed the rope darts because I like to string up multiple bad guys across a single wire between houses to let the others know I don't approve of their shenanigans.

I like to do predator clicks when I do that.

I also appreciated the DLC making me do it as part of the "teach Washington's people that they're fucking with the wrong guy" mission, oh no a mission where I have to repeatedly do SOMETHING AWESOME.

What's next, a mission where I have to turn into a bear and smash an army?

YES. YES IT IS.

So true.

Been feeling like going back and playing ACIII again, but I've got Dragon Age II and Skyrim just sitting there on my computer waiting to be played. And Black Flag should be out soon...

I think I'm nearing the end of Unreal. I'm on the Skaarj ship, and just knocked out the power. I am trying to escape back out, fighting through glowing Skaarj and spiders all over the place... I hate those fucking spiders...

Final verdict for The Last of Us: awesome. While it's not perfect, if you have a PS3, you should definitely get it. It's worth it.

Next up: Rage.

First impressions: John Carmack wanted to portray a post-apocalyptic world in order to show off his new game engine. I'm not sure how to describe the story and characters, but it would most likely include the words 'uninspired,' 'artificial' and 'tacked on.' It's pretty much the complete opposite of The Last of Us, where the characters came first.

Still, there's a pretty decent shooter underneath it all (as was to be expected, it's an id game after all), so I'm enjoying myself.

Playing Dragon Age II. They really liked those maps they created, didn't they. Just gonna reuse the hell out of them.

In Reply To #373

It's similar to what happened with the first Mass Effect, where all the buildings had basically two layouts inside.

In Reply To #373 & 374

In Dragon Age II they had their funding cut mid-production, whereas in Mass Effect they didn't have much money to begin with.

But both resulted in "let's save money on art".