What Game/Games are you playing now?

[Mr. Spencer]

Still playing Haunting Ground. Ugh, fuck Hewie. Never comes to me when I call his name. Balls to it, I don't need that dumb dog anyway. Can take care of myself - refined magnesia and refined antimony!

[DarkMemories]

Silent Hill Downpour...again. Despite already having Platinum'd it, I can't help but love playing it. Easily the best survival horror game in the last six years.

Also Demon's Souls, in spite of hating it when I first played it. Managed to beat the Vanguard at the beginning (twas easier than I expected) and got all the way through the Tower Knight in Boletaria.

Might get back into Deus Ex: Human Revolution later this week if I have time.

[Lin]

Currently Playing Infamous 2 even though i've already platinum'd it and beat it but its one of my favorite game series. Also playing Dead Island as well on co-op, really nice horror game and reminds me of borderlands as the color of the weapons name which defines the rarity of it as well as the skill tree.

[Xander Ashford]

Silent Hill Downpour...again. Despite already having Platinum'd it, I can't help but love playing it. Easily the best survival horror game in the last six years.

How would you compare this one to the other Silent Hills though? I mean, is it closer to the Homecoming style of action or is it closer to the old style of being more horror? Ultimately, I enjoy both sides of the spectrum in Silent Hill and am more-so just curious. I've really been wanting to play a good horror game though. That and I've been waiting for it to drop in price...I've been feeling cheap lately and not really wanting to pay $60 for a game. I bought Final Fantasy XIII-2 the second week it came out, and that is still in the wrapper...Definitely should have waited on that one since I haven't really been in the mood for an RPG.

I haven't really been playing much of anything since my Metal Gear Solid 80GB PS3 died a few weeks back. I already bought one of the slim models (which really pisses me off because I was going to buy an XBOX, but instead had to replace the PS3), and still haven't gotten all my PSN downloads and whatnot back on the system. What annoys me further is I lost all my saved data because I seldom backed it up. I believe all I have backed up is Resident Evil 5 and Dead Space. Bahness. Furthermore, I will actually need to take my PS3 apart to get my Resident Evil 5 disc out, and yes, I have tried that forced boot/eject thing. It apparently does not work on the MGS model. Whatever.

I've been playing Mercenaries like crazy on the 3DS at work though...Still have to finish Revelations. I like it, but it hasn't really sucked me in yet.

[Mr. Spencer]

NieR arrived today so I've started going through that. Bought for £8 on Amazon, yet when it arrived it was still sealed and even had a "£39.99" price sticker on it from the store it was bought previously from.

[DarkMemories]

How would you compare this one to the other Silent Hills though? I mean, is it closer to the Homecoming style of action or is it closer to the old style of being more horror? Ultimately, I enjoy both sides of the spectrum in Silent Hill and am more-so just curious. I've really been wanting to play a good horror game though. That and I've been waiting for it to drop in price

It's kind of a combination of The Room, Origins, Shattered Memories, and Homecoming. It has Room-style Inventory (minus the limited number of items - it's just in real-time). Breakable weapons return from Origins (though they're much more durable if they're metallic). Depending on your view of SM, some of the Otherworld sequences may or may not be to your liking. Its combat isn't as maneuverable as Homecoming (you can't dodge) but it does have an (extremely useful) block button like SH3. The monster designs are hit-and-miss by most accounts, though there isn't anything as awful as Numb Bodies.

It's the atmosphere, though, that really drives home how good the game is. For the first time since SH2, you actually get to explore a new section of the town (and much more extensively than ever before). There are even 13-14 sidequests, most of which are memorable or helpful in some fashion (and a few are probably home to some of the best moments in the game). Lighting is pretty dark in most areas, and it doesn't have that blue/orange dichotomy that Homecoming had. The music is top-notch, and Licht's score is on par or better than (in my opinion) most of Yamaoka's recent work.

The story's probably the most coherent of the series (you won't need, say, a Lost Memories to understand half of it) but that's not a bad thing. It's not an amnesia plot or cult plot, so it's new ground for the series to cover. Voice Acting is probably the best in the series (though perhaps Alex from Homecoming is still the best overall). The weirdness of Silent Hill is still in force, and there are a few moments that will have you asking WTF?

All I can really say, though, is that you have to give it a shot. It might surprise you with how great it is. At the least, I can say that all six of its endings are differentiated from one another both visually and thematically, which was a bonus coming off of ME3.

[Xander Ashford]

It's kind of a combination of The Room, Origins, Shattered Memories, and Homecoming. It has Room-style Inventory (minus the limited number of items - it's just in real-time). Breakable weapons return from Origins (though they're much more durable if they're metallic). Depending on your view of SM, some of the Otherworld sequences may or may not be to your liking. Its combat isn't as maneuverable as Homecoming (you can't dodge) but it does have an (extremely useful) block button like SH3. The monster designs are hit-and-miss by most accounts, though there isn't anything as awful as Numb Bodies.

It's the atmosphere, though, that really drives home how good the game is. For the first time since SH2, you actually get to explore a new section of the town (and much more extensively than ever before). There are even 13-14 sidequests, most of which are memorable or helpful in some fashion (and a few are probably home to some of the best moments in the game). Lighting is pretty dark in most areas, and it doesn't have that blue/orange dichotomy that Homecoming had. The music is top-notch, and Licht's score is on par or better than (in my opinion) most of Yamaoka's recent work.

The story's probably the most coherent of the series (you won't need, say, a Lost Memories to understand half of it) but that's not a bad thing. It's not an amnesia plot or cult plot, so it's new ground for the series to cover. Voice Acting is probably the best in the series (though perhaps Alex from Homecoming is still the best overall). The weirdness of Silent Hill is still in force, and there are a few moments that will have you asking WTF?

All I can really say, though, is that you have to give it a shot. It might surprise you with how great it is. At the least, I can say that all six of its endings are differentiated from one another both visually and thematically, which was a bonus coming off of ME3.

Well, I've actually only played (complete start to finish) Silent Hill 3, Origins, and Homecoming. I own all of them and have sampled Silent Hill 1, 2 and The Room, but just never got around to actually completing them. What I actually like about the series is most of them offer something different and have things that set them a bit apart from the rest of the series. I had planned on getting the game once I saw it on sale for around $40 (I know it's coming soon, since the game has been out for a while now).

Now, you have my interest sparked since the story isn't one of the cult or amnesia type; though, both of those plot types work well with Silent Hill, but are becoming a bit trite too.

That's what I liked about Homecoming was it felt like playing a movie, and the voice acting was pretty good when compared to some other games in the genre. I haven't played that in ages...Maybe I should pull that out while I'm waiting for the price to drop for Downpour. I never actually researched the enemies, but I do hope the nurses are in it at some point. I quite like my evil nurses. *sinister grin*

[Canas Renvall]

^ I do have a spoiler-free review for you in the Downpour thread if you'd like a more in-depth review.

As for me... L4D2, Kid Icarus: Uprising, and Revelations mostly!

[Mr. Spencer]

I'll be getting Downpour eventually, went it lowers in price.

[Inferno04]

I'm about to buy the Taxidermist DLC for Heavy Rain. =) Should be fun.

[Darkmoon]

It is. A touch short, sadly, but enjoyable.

[alexdz]

Dead Space 2 and I started a femShep runon Mass Effect, because I refuse to let 10 minutes of the last game ruin the rest of the franchise for me.

[CrimsonElder]

Just bought killzone 2 and 3 on Ebay today looking forward to playing them after playing both demos. Never played them before has anyone played them can you tell me if I can look forward to some decent third person shooters and not the same old Cod crap?

[Mr. Spencer]

Making my way through NieR, though pacing myself this time and keeping track of time so I don't end up playing until the morning.

UNFORTUNATELY I DON'T HAVE ANY OF THOSE PARTS YOU NEED TO FIX THE WATERWHEEL BUT DON'T WORRY, FIND ME THESE ITEMS AND I CAN BUILD THE PARTS SO YOU CAN SIDE QUEST WHILE YOU SIDE QUEST.

[Beanovsky Durst]

Just finished Fatal Frame: Mask of Lunar Eclipse with the english fan patch...

Damn this game was good. Old school survival horror there.

[Dracarys]

Raccoon City, close to platinum. Just some parasite kills and 10 brutal melee kills in a game left.

[DarkMemories]

Recently played: Catherine

It was an...interesting experience. I'd played the demo before, and although I thought the gameplay wasn't for me, I was pretty interested in the story. I was surprised by how long the game was (17 hours) and just how much dialogue there proved to be. Sadly, the frustrating difficulty of some puzzle chambers combined with time limits (which I hate with a passion in any game, and it's why Majora's Mask is my least favorite Zelda) ensured that I couldn't really enjoy the game as much as I would have liked. The story took some turns I didn't expect, but I'm satisfied with the ending I got.

Overall: 7/10

[aris13]

Resident Evil Remake
Last Window

[Mr. Spencer]

Obtained Ending A on NieR, going through it again for the additional three endings. One of which erases my save data so I'll need to plan for that accordingly. I've acquired all weapons, working to upgrade all thirty of them and then I've got the fishing sidequest to work on, plus some gardening to do. Should keep me busy in my spare time. I'm also playing Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, I love the batarian sentinel.

[Code_R]

Deus Ex HR, second play through in asshole kill everyone mode this time. Soundtrack is still great.