What Game/Games are you playing now?

[Humor Tumor]

I'm currently playing Bioshock 2 and the Saboteur. I also recently finished Mass Effect 2. I wasn't a fan of the first game, and ME2 did not change my mind at all, worst purchase of the year so far.

[Member_of_STARS]

Two weeks ago I started my experiment run, playing through the Splinter Cell games to get a better feel on just how terribly the old fans got screwed by Conviction. And they got fvcked pretty bad.

I played two games, Chaos Theory and Double Agent. Im currently considering Pandora Tomorrow and the original Splinter Cell, but I fear they are technically so outdated that it would be difficult to enjoy them.

Splinter Cell is THE stealth game. Its a game where you have an option to kill, but choosing not to saves you a lot of frustration. Ive always considered MGS to be a purely action game, because its stealth elements are too "casual" and completely secondary, an unattractive option. Especially when you get a ton of weapons which are much more fun to use.

I absolutely loved Chaos Theories "non-nonsense" approach in every bit of its aspects. If you get killed, 99% of the time you admit that its your own fault and the game didnt cheat you out of a win. Every solution in the game except for the plot vehicle (a fictional information warfare bit of tech) is plausible, make-sense and doesnt break your immersion.

The whole game was Tom Clancy goodness. From characters up to every bit of detailing. It didnt insult your intelligence. My only problem with the game was that I didnt feel immersed. No clue why.

Double Agent greatly improves the narrative, and the missions. It is a much more immersing game. Yet it the "streamlining" process (read: lets make game easier for casual idiots who hold a controller upside down) it cut a lot of corners. For example, the horribad streetlight light meter. No sound/ambient sound meter. The horrendous "explanations" to some technical gadgets. These take chips out of the immersion. But the game stayed true to Splinter Cell goodness. I enjoyed Double Agent a lot more, but I was extremely sensitive to the small details which had been cut by the team because Chaos Theory did them so well.

But what really made me go back and play them was Ubisofts attempts at discrediting the previous games by making them look slow, cumbersome, stupid, to sell the pure-action and casual garbage that Conviction is. I wanted to see for myself if "Sam is slow like a grandma, and the gameplay is stale".

When you sneak into a room with an armed guard in it, and you know you have a choice to kill him, or leave him be, the immersion is amazing. And I laughed my ass off at the rudimentary firefight dynamics Conviction has, while I had a 3 minute showdown with a Congo soldier in Double Agent, who kept dodging my shot while hiding behind a wall. When I ducked, he supressed me to keep me down. If I had a clear line of sight, he would peek for a splitsecond and not engage. If they made other AI-s flank you, it would have been an absolutely fantastic moment of me being gunned down for being stupid enough to engage more than 1 soldier at once. Exactly what a stealth game should do.

Another franchise down the drain to please the casual gamer who would rather chess to turn into checkers, rather than just play checkers instead.

On Metacritics, theres a huge gap between Splinter Cell games user scores and scores given for XBOX versions. And Conviction is the second lowest SC game based on user reviews while its 3rd from the top (I think) based on "professional reviews". Splinter Cell forums are also populated with an audience which appreciates the old formula more than the new one, and thats despite their platform preferences, which is damn nice.

Overall.

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory 8/10 (-1 for immersion problems, -1 for level linearity)
Splinter Cell Double Agent 9/10 (-1 for a few critical broken details)

[BadWolfX]

I am just about to start playing Bioshock 2.

I'm very excited.

Also really late purchasing this game.

[himher_elle]

I am just about to start playing Bioshock 2.

I'm very excited.

Also really late purchasing this game.

Oh, u'll really enjoy it, I bought mine last week and already finished it, and I must admit: it is great, not as GREAT as the first one, but still, it's a great experience

[aris13]

Heavy Rain and Uncharted 2

[Beanovsky Durst]

Fucking FarmVille. I hate that thing.

But it's a favor from my sis, because she's working (she's a singer) and she can't attend the stupid farm. I'll take Harvest Moon anyday.

I guess I'll wipe the bad taste with either a Gears of War 2 session or some Perfect Dark.

[aris13]

Hotel Dusk: Room 215

RIP Cing

[Beanovsky Durst]

Just bought Cellfactor: Psychokinetic Wars... I LOVE fast-paced deathmatch games.

[L-e-W]

Finally decided to really start playing BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger last weekend. I'm having a better opinion of it now than I did when I first got it. Likeiwse, been playing Left 4 Dead 2 more, might get a new graphics card though because it's choppy as hell generally (and the medium shaders make it kinda...bleh). Also gotten around to playing more Marvel VS Capcom 2, and suddenly I'm not completely sucking at it. Handheld-wise, playing Pokemon SoulSilver, and thinking about getting Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.

[nemesiswontdie]

Been playing some UC2 online since the new dlc came out.

[khasho]

I am playing resident evil 5 gold edition.. lost in nightmare is gud cleared it in 13 mins on speed run... Desperate Escape is very hard

[Sephiroth]

well sine my PS3 is dead I got my Sega Meger Drive out and played on some good old classic games again only been on Sonice 1,2,3 and Streets of Rage 1 and 2.

[aris13]

Ace Attorney: Justice For All

[GuardhouseMusic]

RIGHT THREAD/FORUM

Well, Just finished Persona 3 FES after finally beating the reaper, and yes, besides the death form, Nyx is much much easier. It was almost a joke going through all of her forms before she started using the moonless something or other spell (frustrating shield that reflects every attack, probably for enough damage to kill a party member). I was a little worried at some points, but it was alright. Clocked about 105 hours.

Plus I got a little choked up at the ending, when Mitsuru recalls everything at the podium. I'd get depressed at the ending if the characters all forgot, and they ended on a touching moment. The entire game, for the monotony of Tartarus, was fascinating, endearing, and rewarding at almost every completion. I feel great having completed it but nonetheless I'll miss these characters. I just can't wait to play Persona 4 and Digital Devil Saga 1.

[nemesiswontdie]

Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Origins-Awakening.

Working on the platinum for this game and it'll be my 10th platinum .

[I_Am_Nemesis]

Im playing the reach beta at the moment, its pretty fun so far, not much different from Halo 3 to be honest except for the layout, the graphics are much better and the weapons feel a lot nicer too.

[Beanovsky Durst]

Im playing the reach beta at the moment, its pretty fun so far, not much different from Halo 3 to be honest except for the layout, the graphics are much better and the weapons feel a lot nicer too.

Well I've been playing it too, my impressions is that graphics were slightly improved (nothing superb really), it's same old halo with some twists like the rocket backpack and cool stuff, I guess this will be just a rent to play campaign and that's it.

[Enetirnel]

Shadow of Memories / Shadow of Destiny.

Having some fun on it, I do like the music from the game too.

[Beanovsky Durst]

Just finished Dead Space: Extraction. It really exceeded my expectations, and storywise it left me pumped for DS2... Necromorphs, the new zombies .

[Enetirnel]

Running around the R.P.D. as the NPC officers, in Outbreak File #2.

Good fun, just wish the gas would stop so I can capture properly.